Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Community Meeting Set For Thursday

News from Uptown Neighborhood Council:
Community Meeting this Thursday, Save the Date


UNC was contacted by Clarendon Park and Buena Park neighbors concerned about the proposed Montrose Clarendon TIF development of Maryville. We offered to help them notify residents and co-host a meeting.

UNC will host a community meeting with this new community group—Uptown Coalition for Responsible Development—on Thursday, May 27, at 7 pm in the community room at 4343 Clarendon. Please save the date.

The agenda for this community meeting will include:

-Impact of Montrose/Maryville TIF
-What happened to the Wilson Yard TIF Community Planning Process for spending the next $54 Million?

-Aldermanic Candidate Forums

-Community action and volunteers


Katharine Boyda
UNC President

7 comments:

  1. As an aside (not to hijack the thread); but, there is (or was, or maybe will be) a meeting regarding SBIF for business owners in the 46th and 48th wards which the City, Dep't of Community Development and the respective aldermen will be conducting (or, may have already conducted - the details are a bit hazy).

    Anyway, if you're a small business owner looking to do some remodeling or expanding (and might have your own time machine), check this out.

    Much apreciation to the alderman's office for the timely heads up on this.

    Note: I believe that the meeting is (or was) BYOFC.

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  2. Has anyone contacted "Friends of the Parks" or Norma Tranter regarding the use or mis-use of parkland for this project?

    We should get their opinion on this matter.

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  3. And don't forget...

    If you missed Sedgewick's farce last week there's a repeat performace (same batty time, same batty place...)

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  4. I will be there for sure as it is right in my 4343 Clarendon building. Many here are really concerned and do not look forward to this project being forced down out throats. I like to also point out all the gangs now writting all over the boarded up windows and walls of the Maryville building that is getting larger by the day...

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  5. Re: Grafitti on Maryville. Don's not doing his job. He should have a regular route for grafitti blasters.

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  6. Of course they need another SBIF in Uptown. ONE (Organization of the Northeast) only got $500,000 to run the Clark TIF SBIF. They have an insatiable appetite for government funding.

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  7. Curiouser and Curiouser.
    The City Water Dept and the Park District are exchanging land so that the City owned lot stretching from under the tennis court to Marine Drive becomes permanent Park Space. Yet, the Planning Dept won't rezone it down from RM-5 saying that the protections in the planned development are adequate, nay, even better. Why not have the downzone and the protections in the PD? That would be even better yet.

    And what is the developer's role in this 2-way exchange that suddenly becomes a 3-way exchange? He is going to "buy" the land under the tennis courts and let the park district use is as open space. The cash paid for that underground use is supposed to pay for the fieldhouse rennovations. But wait a second. That lot has been in the Neighbor Space program for years and the Park District, as the only adjoining neighbor had the right to buy it from the city for $1. The Park wanted that land, but the alderman always tried to block that sale. So, now her buddies at Maryville, get a jacked up price for their rezoned land, the developer gets $70,000,000 tax abatement for the next 23 + years and the Park District gets a lousy $3,000,000 for fieldhouse rennovations. Aren't the local taxpayers getting screwed where they could have bought the park land for $1 and used $3,000,000 to renovate the fieldhouse without giving the developer another $67,000,000?

    This is the community benefit that justifies the Planned Development. Since when does getting screwed to the tune of $67,000,000 equal a community benefit?

    Why does Shiller always screw the community to favor Maryville? The TIF study now claims that Maryville was a children't shelter operation - which is a non-conforming use of their existing planned development zoning as a medical center. When queried about their operations, Maryville always claimed to be a medical facility for cocaine babies and their addicted moms. The Public Guardian knew that teens were living in the windowless unremodeled morgue in Maryville's basement, yet no one would ever pursue the community's complaint about the building code safety violations and the zoning unpermitted use because Shiller blocked it.

    So, Shiller wanted this city lot for Maryville all along even though the Park District needed it and wanted and was entitled to it for $1. Now, she is working to support this crazy 3-way sham deal when the only parties contributing net legal consideration are the Park District and City.

    What is she getting out of this and why is the City going along with this?

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