By Ed Lowe
Senior Writer
Substantial community opposition has developed to a proposed Special Service Area (SSA), this one along Clybourn Ave. between North and Ashland avenues. A City Council hearing on the proposal is scheduled for Thanksgiving eve, Wednesday, Nov. 23.
Opposition to the proposal is being spearheaded by the organization known as RANCH. This acronym stands for the Racine, Armitage, North Branch of the Chicago River, Halsted and Clybourn area of the City. Jeff Price, vice president and spokesman for RANCH, quoted from an official RANCH resolution passed Nov. 9. The resolution stated: "In light of the strong opposition expressed by the property owners at the RANCH Board of Directors' meeting Wednesday, Nov. 9, the RANCH Triangle Community Conservation Association requests that no further action be taken on the proposed SSA until the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce (LPCC) can demonstrate that a majority of property owners support this Special Service Area."
Price went on to say that RANCH was notified only last Friday, Nov. 11, that the LPCC was going to the City Council on Nov. 23. "Supposedly, they [LPCC] are in the process of notifying the property owners. They had a meeting on June 28 that one of our board members attended in which there were about 20 people attending. Five of them were from the chamber, two or three were property owners and the rest were business people. There are about 400 property owners and something like 520 PIN (property identification numbers).
"I don't know anybody who is in favor of this proposal. The thing that bothers me is that they have this meeting [in June] and then, six months later, they apply a stealth process. And after they have this hearing before the City Council, 51 percent of the property owners AND 51 percent of the voters have to act to turn it down. That's outrageous," Price said.
"The budget for this proposal is $300,000, and 20 percent of the money goes to the Chamber as a management fee. In addition, they recover another $40,000 in fees that were paid to set this up," said Price. "That means that a third of all the tax money they collect for the first year goes to the Chamber and not to the things they are trying to improve.
"I think that the process is flawed. You should have 51 percent of the people saying they want a SSA. They did this 'under the radar,'" said Price. "They are holding the meeting the day before Thanksgiving. There are all sorts of people who will be out of town on that weekend. And they proposed the SSA and they are to be the sole service provider. It's terribly self-serving," he went on. "I can't believe that it takes one person full-time work to provide these services. Once you set up the contracts for the work you then sit by the phone like the Maytag repairman waiting for someone to have a problem," he said.
Inside spoke with several Clybourn property owners who are opposed to the SSA. One, Ken Skolnik, owns the North and Sheffield Commons shopping center, which contains Best Buy and Whole Foods among its tenants. He is forcefully opposed to the SSA. Skolnik told Inside that "nothing they are providing is of any use to us. We're giving the same services ourselves and the SSA is a waste of money. In addition, they are shoving it down our throats."
Jay Goltz, who owns Artists' Frame Service on Clybourn Ave., is a bit more temperate but certainly is on record as opposing the hearing scheduled for next week. "Business owners and residents want some time to decide whether the SSA is worthwhile. Where's the fire? A group of 10 business owners agree: We think that the SSA proposal is premature. We're working with the City on the Clybourn traffic problem. Until we figure that out, we want to delay consideration of the SSA," said Goltz. "We're not sure we need an SSA at this juncture and we're trying to decide whether an SSA would benefit the community. We think that the process should slow down."
Dave Laurenson, a spokesman for Finkl Steel which owns a lot of commercial property along Clybourn Ave., agrees and is also opposed to the SSA proposal, according to a letter made available to Inside Publications. Mike Holzer, who speaks for the Local Economic and Employment Development Council (LEED), told Inside that the letter was prepared and signed by eight area property owners and businessmen asking for a delay in the City Council hearing. The letter is addressed to Ald. Vi Daley (43rd) with a copy being sent to Ald. Ted Matlak (32nd).
Two phone calls to the LPCC Executive Director, Kim Klausmeier, were not returned by press time. In one instance, she was confirmed by the LPCC receptionist to be in the office but she did not take our call.
Based on the level of concern, Ald. Daley has called a special meeting to be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 21, at the New City YMCA, 1515 N. Halsted St., to discuss the issues. |
