A plan to create a special district to improve the village’s downtown area might be dead, officials concede.
The proposal would levy a special 1 to 1.5 percent tax on properties in an area between Franklin Street and Maple Avenue and Forest Avenue and Washington Street. The plan is backed by the Chamber of Commerce as a way to improve the downtown district and thereby increase revenues.
But many of the area’s residents and property owners objected, saying they would have to pay for improvements to businesses that would be better paid for by the businesses themselves.
At least 153 property owners and 95 residents signed a petition voicing their opposition to the special district. The petition was submitted to the village clerk’s office last week.
By law, if 51 percent of the proposed district’s residents and property owners petitioned against the plan, it could be defeated.
Although opponents of the plan say they have enough signatures to kill the proposal, officials said they plan to verify each signature.