The Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce (LPCC) for the first time hosted a meeting with Lincoln Park area neighborhood association presidents last Wednesday morning in order to provide a forum for discussions over common issues facing the community.
Those presidents in attendance at DePaul University’s Stuart Center, 2311 N. Clifton Ave., called for continued meetings in the future—two to four per year—of the chamber and the seven associations which are encompassed in the Lincoln Park community.
The meeting was conducted on the heels of another community meeting Tuesday night at which some of the same groups discussed the proposed Home Depot project on Halsted St. and Schubert Ave. This and other recent proposed developments in the area are part of the impetus for the gathering, as LPCC and neighborhood activists are concerned that they are increasingly being left out of negotiations between the city and those who wish to undertake large-scale commercial and residential developments in their community.
“We don’t represent big or small business by design, nor in general do we as a group pass judgment on any particular business or development,” said Tom Ward, chairman of the board of LPCC. “But we would like to be involved in the process from the beginning when these proposals are brought forward since, ultimately, the LPCC could be asked to support and/or defend the commercial activity in our community in many instances. We’d like to get involved earlier in the process to be more proactive rather than reactive.”
According to the LPCC, they were only notified about the Home Depot project when a group of area hardware stores approached them about helping to highlight some of the issues related to the proposal.
Other projects which the LPCC feels it has had little impute over include the fate of the City Limits Bus Barn site at Clark St. and Schubert Ave., the shuttered Columbus Hospital property on Lakeview Ave., a controversial new CVS Pharmacy at Lincoln and Armitage avenues, the Dominick’s Fresh Store at Fullerton and Sheffield avenues which has now caused major congestion problems at the intersection, and a whole slew of projects along the Clybourn and Elston avenue corridors.
Area community groups bordering the Home Depot site were also apparently left out of the initial negotiations until after a deal had apparently already been made to approve the project. Many questions still remain among neighbors about the future of the project and its elements.
Other points of discussion included: Retail vacancies along Clark St. and a proposed new Special Service Area, which will be instituted following the city’s upcoming streetscape project.
Action toward new business recruitment based on the findings from a DePaul University study of commercial activity in the Lincoln Park community. Development of a “Business Start-Up Kit” for prospective new businesses.
The growth of home-based businesses in Lincoln Park.
Police, crime and Community Area Policing (CAPS) related issues.
The LPCC’s new logo and an identity campaign which will be undertaken upon its release.
Special retail promotions designed to get more area residents to shop locally in the community and LPCC plans to introduce “Chamber Dollars,” which would be good for purchases at any chamber member’s business.
A plan to try to increase national and international awareness of Lincoln Park as a tourist destination for visitors to Chicago.
The upcoming relocation of the LPCC.
“We want to use these meetings as a forum to open ourselves up and listen to community ideas and concerns,” said Ward. “We think we can help achieve some common goals with our residential neighbors and we’re looking for feedback wherever we can get it.”
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