BATAVIA
Downtown tax hearing planned
The Batavia City Council this week set a public hearing for Oct. 15 on a controversial downtown taxing district, despite opposition from five aldermen who said business owners will block the proposal.
“I don’t think this stands a chance of passing. I would rather not spend the $5,000 it would cost to go through the process,” said Ald. Eldon Frydendall. Aldermen James Volk, Jodie Wollnik, Nancy Vance and Victor Dietz also voted against the public hearing.
The proposed special service area (SSA) would allow the city to levy a maximum tax rate of 75 cents per $100 equalized assessed valuation on properties in the downtown business district. That money would fund road and sidewalk improvements as well as special events and activities of Batavia MainStreet, a city-sponsored non-profit group that promotes the business district.
Volk said the proposal as written appears to create a “big slush fund” with little defined purpose.
But Ald. Linnea Miller argued that a public hearing would be the best way to refine the tax plan. She said holding the hearing would allow them to “listen to suggestions and make changes to the SSA based on public input.”
If the council approves the downtown SSA after the public hearing and comment period are done, affected residents can overturn it by submitting a petition with the signatures of 51 percent of property owners and 51 percent of registered voters in the district.
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–Denise Linke
ELBURN
Street extension OKd for developer
The Elburn Plan Commission recently approved a plan to extend Lilac Street and connect it to 3rd Street as part of a townhouse development, but told the builder to lower the project’s density.
Burzak Investment Group of Brookfield had planned to put 23 townhouses grouped in three five-unit buildings and two four-unit buildings on the 3.4-acre site. Though it faces a dense three-story multifamily development on Willow Street, the Lilac Street parcel is surrounded by older single-family houses.
“We didn’t take the developer’s suggestion that his townhouse development would be transitional housing seriously,” said Plan Commissioner John Krukoff. “The number of town homes in that small area is not appropriate for that R-1 neighborhood.”
Commissioners are not concerned that connecting Lilac and 3rd will draw more traffic through the neighborhood. “We’ve never liked dead-end streets or cul-de-sacs in Elburn,” Krukoff said. “We would like to see Lilac built out. People sometimes take 1st Street to avoid traffic on Main Street [Illinois Highway 47], but 3rd Street is always going to be a quiet residential street, and having another connection to 1st Street won’t change that.”
Lilac begins at 1st and does not extend west to Illinois 47.
Burzak is expected to bring a revised site plan to the commission for review this winter, Krukoff said.
–Denise Linke
GENEVA
City is called great place for retirement
U.S. News & World Report magazine has named Geneva one of the top 20 places to retire in the U.S.
At a meeting Tuesday, Ald. Chuck Brown recognized city staff for its part in creating the atmosphere that includes quaint shops, shaded streets and beautiful old homes with a small-town feeling. Another advantage is the nearness to a large city.
Acknowledging the recognition, City Administrator Phil Page said, “We’ll need to add more senior housing to accommodate those who want to come to Geneva to retire.”
Additional affordable senior housing has long been a goal of both city staff and aldermen, officials said.
–Barbara Kois