By Billy Kenefick
Special to Inside
At 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 21, Aldermen Vi Daley (43rd) and Ted Matlak (32nd) held a community meeting at the New City YMCA, 1515 N. Halsted St., to discuss the Special Service Area for the North and Clybourn area that was applied for on July 21, 2005, by the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce, the proposal’s sponsor organization. The meeting’s purpose was to clarify and explain what a Special Service Area is as well as gather community feedback about the proposal. The proposed SSA was met with overwhelming opposition from the majority of property owners from the area present at the meeting. Approximately 34 out of 35 property owners present were against the proposal.
Prior to this meeting, a letter was written by eight prominent business owners in the Clybourn corridor asking the Aldermen to withdraw the SSA from the Nov. 23 City Council agenda. Most of the owners who signed the letter were present at this meeting as well as the previous ones. After the brief presentation by the Aldermen and Gina Caruso of the Financial Planning Department of the City, these businessmen as well as many other property owners expressed dissent towards the proposed SSA.
“I have not talked to one person that is for it,” North Avenue property owner Ken Skolnik said during the open forum. Other business and property owners echoed similar statements. A primary issue against the SSA was the tax that would be placed on the business owners to finance the program’s services, including neighborhood beautification, coordinated marketing, parking and transit programs, and building façade improvements.
Many property owners disagreed with paying for services they thought they themselves are capable of doing, or “other property owners should be responsible for,” such as shoveling snow and keeping sidewalks clean.
There were a few supporters of the SSA, citing complaints about seeing the streets dirty as a cause for considering the proposal. Before an informal vote was held, Lisa Brenner, Chair of the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce, briefly spoke in defense of her organization's proposal. She explained that the actions taken by the LPCC were initially in response to complaints about traffic and a lack of pedestrian-friendly streets.
“Our intention is consistent with our mission,” she said, which is to help Lincoln Park businesses succeed and grow. “We saw this as a potential economic engine to process means for development.”
During an informal vote by raising hands, however, the consensus in the room was that the SSA be opposed. The Aldermen will be weighing the proposal in light of this discontent from the property owners in the Nov. 23 Public hearing. On Nov. 23, the Aldermen are expected to tell the Chair of the Finance Committee that they have received information from stakeholders and will likely not receive support for passing the Introduction to Establishment Ordinance for the Clybourn SSA. In turn, the issue will have little relevance at the Nov. 30 City Council meeting. The progress of the SSA project will stop, at least for the time being.
Although there was presumed initial support for the project, it is not on “autopilot” and can be canceled by the Aldermen. “If it's not a good idea now, it's not a good idea in January,” Matlak said.
“SSAs don’t work on every street,” Daley said. “If you don’t want it, we will honor that.”
Daley did, however, point out the success of the Clark Street SSA, occurring between Webster Ave. and Diversey Pkwy., noting improvements such as better light post maintenance, beautification projects, and additional garbage cans.
Caruso from the DPD explained in the meeting that the first SSA in Chicago was on State Street and was established in 1977. The general purpose of an SSA is to “use the power of tax for a funding stream” that provides services “above and beyond” what the City initially provides. She emphasized that SSAs are most effective when there is a “strong sense of the issues” within a community and a willingness to see the process through.
The initial budget proposed by the LPCC for the services and costs for the SSA ran close to $300,000. It included 39 percent towards parking and transportation programs, 35 percent towards sidewalk maintenance programs, 7 percent towards pedestrian amenity programs, and the remaining 19 percent for program management and contingency/loss collection funds. The proposed boundaries were North Ave., Clybourn Ave., and Sheffield Ave., beginning with the shopping district at North Ave. and proceeding west to Ashland Ave.
In addition to the discussion of the Clybourn SSA, Matlak also used this community meeting to discuss the City’s new North Avenue bridge project. With the help of John Yonan from the Department of Transportation and engineering consultant Chad Hammerl, Matlak announced that the brand new $20 million four-lane suspension bridge will begin construction in March 2006.
The construction will last 12-14 months. An “S” turn bypass will be built before the original bridge is torn down to allow traffic to continue to flow. The bridge is a hybrid suspension bridge, and will be the first of its kind in Chicago. “This is going to be the signature bridge for the Ward,” Matlak said. |
