Chicago-Main TIF District Advisory Committee Meeting Thursday, August 21, 2014 7:00 PM Lorraine H
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Chicago-Main TIF District Advisory Committee Meeting Thursday, August 21, 2014 7:00 PM Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave, Aldermanic Library AGENDA 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES OF May 15, 2014 3. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION A. Request for TIF Financial Assistance from O’Donnell Investments B. Next Steps 4. ADJOURNMENT Next Meeting: Thursday, August 28, 2014 Order of Agenda Items is subject to change. Information about the Chicago-Main TIF Committee is available at http://www.cityofevanston.org/government/boards- commissions/chicago-main-tif-advisory-committee/index.php Questions can be directed to Johanna Nyden at 847.448.8014. The City of Evanston is committed to making all public meetings accessible to persons with disabilities. Any citizen needing mobility or communications access assistance should contact the City Manager’s Office 48 hours in advance of the scheduled meeting so that accommodations can be made at 847-866-2936 (Voice) or 847-448-8064 (TYY). DRAFT – NOT APPROVED CHICAGO-MAIN TIF ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING NOTES MAY 15, 2014 Attendees: Committee Members: A. Ford, R. Wootton, A. Minick, S. Chinsky, D. Geyer, J. Szostek Committee Members Absent: M. Turley Staff: J. Nyden, C. Plante Aldermen: D. Wilson 1. CALL TO ORDER Ms. Ford called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm. 2. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES OF APRIL 17, 2014 Ms. Ford moved to approve the minutes of the April 17th meeting. Ms. Wootton seconded. The committee voted 5-0 to approve the minutes from April 17th. 3. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION Draft application for TIF funding Ms. Wootton showed the committee a capital spending evaluation matrix from another organization where she serves on the board, pointing out that it does a good job of incorporating the organization’s goals into the scoring for projects seeking funding which fosters a sense of transparency by letting applicants know exactly what the committee is looking for. Ms. Ford pointed out that although the application places a heavy emphasis on goals, it also pays attention to ROI. Ms. Wootton conceded that the application she brought as an example is for an entirely different type of organization, but wanted to make an example of the connection to organizational mission an ranking format that was used in the application. Ms. Nyden reminded the committee that the “but for” element is legally required where TIF funding is involved – anyone seeking funds has an obligation to show that the project would not be completed but for TIF financing. Staff incorporated the stated goals and values expressed in prior committee meetings in the draft application but included DRAFT – NOT APPROVED the “but for” section because it is required by state law. The rest of the application is modeled after TIF applications in used in neighboring jurisdictions. Best practice is that TIF funding should make up no more than 20% of funding for a new project. Ms. Ford asked if the committee was free to make changes. Ms. Nyden said yes, though it would more likely take the form of making additions in order to ensure that staff and the committee has access to all the necessary data. Mr. Szostek commended everyone who took part in the discussion at the April 17th meeting based on his reading of the meeting minutes. Ms. Ford asked Mr. Szostek to share any ideas or suggestions he had for the application since he had missed the prior meeting. Mr. Szostek asked whether nonprofits would be permitted to apply since there wasn’t a separate project heading for nonprofits. Although property tax generation is important to a TIF, nonprofits do generate economic benefit. Ms. Nyden agreed and pointed out that some nonprofits do pay property tax, including Rotary International. This could be dealt with by adding an unspecified “other” category or checkbox on the application. Mr. Minick said he also liked the idea of an “other” box, which could include uses like a bowling alley Ms. Wootton asked why “industrial” was included in the categories and questioned whether there were any industrial uses in the district currently. Ms. Nyden said that the area actually has 2 industrial locations currently, including a lumber yard and FEW Spirits. Ms. Ford suggested that in addition to adding an “other” category, there should be categoris for “entertainment’ or “service” because “office” doesn’t seem specific enough. Ms. Nyden suggested that the confusion about uses could be dealt with by requiring applicants to submit their zoning analysis with the TIF application. Mr. Szostek expressed some confusion over how mixed-use projects were dealt with on the form and suggested including clearer instructions that mixed use applicants need to fill out all applicable sections. Ms. Ford agreed. Mr. Szostek asked whether the public art component was meant to only physical art projects like outdoor sculptures or murals, or whether programming or financial support could be included. Ms. Ford said she thought of it as mostly applying to physical art installations DRAFT – NOT APPROVED Ms. Nyden agreed but suggested that the question about financial support and arts programming could be directed to the City’s arts coordinator at a later time. Ms. Wootton asked about whether the public art portion would deal with only art attached to a particular building or project seeking funding or whether it might include a commitment to public art elsewhere in the TIF district. Ms. Nyden suggested breaking it out to avoid the confusion; including an art installation as part of a building or site design should be considered as part of the application. Mr. Geyer suggested moving the public art question to the public benefit heading rather than the “commercial projects” section. Ms. Ford and Ms. Wootton agreed. Mr. Minick suggested moving the traffic study and market appraisal study sections to public benefit as well and said that the traffic piece should only be required for new construction projects, not things like façade grants. Mr. Szostek asked about transit oriented development and parking rules. Ms. Nyden said that Evanston’s particular rules were silent on whether paring could be reduced in areas near transit. Ms. Ford asked whether there was new parking being built in the area because of a house being demolished. Ms. Nyden said that the surface lot being created was to be a private lot for the adjacent apartment building. Even though it’s a private lot, this should still free up street parking because residents would no longer need to park cars on the street. Ms. Ford asked if there should be more about the committee’s goals in the project info. Mr. Szostek asked if this would take a narrative form. Mr. Geyer said that the only part that deals with committee’s goals in the current draft is the public benefit section. Ms. Ford said that it might be a good idea to add another section to speak more to the committee’s goals, but wasn’t sure how to go about it in terms of formatting on the application form. Ms. Nyden asked how everyone felt about the example that Ms. Wootton had brought. Ms. Ford said yes, but suggested designing a new format on the whiteboard. Ms. Wootton created columns for residential and business impact and then rows for new people, economic considerations, traffic & parking, and quality of place. She then added columns for existing businesses and infrastructure. DRAFT – NOT APPROVED Ms. Ford said that the top concerns for each category are in the last page of minutes from the previous meeting; traffic and new people were the top two concerns for residential projects but was unsure about new businesses. Steve asked why residential was even being discussed, since they usually don’t qualify for TIF funds unless the project involves affordable housing. Ms. Ford said that she generally agrees that we don’t need more housing in the area. Mr. Geyer said he didn’t expect to see many housing requests if any, only affordable housing. Ms. Nyden agreed that most housing projects wouldn’t count. Ms. Ford asked why it was included in the application then, and whether mixed use projects were a way for developers to get around the requirements. Ms. Nyden responded that TIF money can’t be used for new residential construction, but said that it could be used for expenses specified in the statute, like site preparation and professional fees. Mr. Szostek asked if this meant it could be used for preparation but not construction. Ms. Nyden said this was correct. Ms. Wootton questioned whether residential impact really refers to a residential building. To us it’s more about impact on neighbors, which would apply to a new residential building but would apply to other projects too. Mr. Minick agreed. Ms. Ford suggested renaming the category to “community impact” to alleviate the confusion. Mr. Minick said he disliked the matrix idea Ms. Wootton was trying to draw on the whiteboard on the grounds that it had become too confusing. As an alternative he proposed asking for additional narratives in the public benefit section to address quality of place, community impact, impact on businesses, and innovation/sustainability. Ms. Ford agreed and said that traffic and parking should be dealt with elsewhere. Mr. Geyer pointed out that sustainability was already included. Ms. Ford concurred and thanked Mr. Minick for his insight. Mr. Geyer expressed concern that there weren’t enough quantitative questions and that the way for applicants to succeed could simply be writing good narratives. DRAFT – NOT APPROVED Ms. Ford said that there was room for change based on the kind of responses the committee sees to the application.