By Adam Harrington
Special to Inside A proposal to raise property taxes to fund a multimillion dollar redevelopment of a mile-long section of Clark St. met with mixed reaction from residential property owners. They discussed their concerns with city officials and members of the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce (LPCC) July 16th at the Alcott School, 2625 N. Orchard St.
The proposal calls for an overhaul of Clark St. between Diversey Pkwy. and Armitage Ave. The LPCC cites narrow sidewalks, poor pedestrian lighting, lack of landscaping, and poor sanitation as among the chief concerns.
"As you walk up and down the street right now, you'll notice the overflowing garbage cans, the uneven sidewalks — it's just not a resident-friendly street," said Kim Klausmeier, president of the LPCC.
To supplement an existing streetscape improvement program funded by the city, the LPCC encouraged property owners to establish a Special Service Area (SSA) to redevelop Clark St. Unlike the better-known tool of Tax Increment Financing (TIF), an SSA does not require the consent of the City Council, and funding does not go through the alderman's office.
"The procedure for establishing an SSA is pretty simple," said Richard Good of the Chicago Department of Planning and Development. "Basically, your only requirement is to have a public hearing and wait 60 days. If you don't get petitions against it, you can establish the SSA."
The SSA would call for a 0.175 percent tax hike on all residential and commercial property owners on that one-mile stretch of Clark St. Services provided by the SSA would focus on sanitation and streetscape improvement, said Gina Caruso, President of CarusoConsults who was hired by the LPCC to study the issue.
"We have issues of maintenance. We have a storefront vacancy rate on Clark St., we have deteriorated facades, we have a garbage pickup problem," she said. "[With the SSA] there will be a facade improvement program and a garbage pickup program."
In order to sell the idea of an SSA to property owners, the LPCC brought in property owners from Lincoln Square, which established its own SSA last year. Dan Garner, owner of Pfaff Funeral Home at 5001 N. Lincoln Ave. and a commissioner of Lincoln Square's SSA, said it is the best tool for neighborhood improvement.
"There is no kickback that goes out to the city," Garner said. "Every dollar that you take out goes back to the program. We don't really get that value from TIF funds and things like that."
While property owners agreed with the LPCC's assessment of problems on Clark St., many thought the redevelopment plan fell short, particularly because of its lack of provisions for parking.
"What good is the plan when you don't have parking?" said Jack Ringer, a residential property owner and 41-year Lincoln Park resident. "I'd pay more taxes if I could tell my tenants they had a place to park, but if they don't, I can't rent the place. You're telling me to pay taxes and fix up my building, but no one's going to move in."
Garner said the purpose of an SSA was to improve aesthetics and sanitation, remarking that Ringer was "at the wrong meeting." Caruso said the high density of Lincoln Park makes up for the lack of parking in attracting residents and patrons.
"You have one of the highest density residential districts in this area," she said. "While we lack the parking, we certainly make up for it in density."
Yet other property owners agreed that parking was as large a problem as the other problems that the SSA proposal does address.
"We're not going to create new parking for Clark St. What we need to do is maximize the use of what we've got," said property owner Robert Burliner, Jr. "To get more business on Clark St., they put meters between Belden and Webster avenues 10 years ago. That was very good for the retailers."
The LPCC will hold an additional meeting with commercial property owners before voting on the creation of an SSA.
"Whether we get an SSA is really going to be dictated by subsequent community meetings," Caruso said. "But we hope that by the end of the year, we're going to have a good idea of whether the program is going to move forward."
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