Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Urban Renewal topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council tables vote to redraw blight/TIF district after residents demand more notice
Summary
After extended public comment and questions about notice, definition of blight and possible uses of tax-increment financing, the council voted to table Resolution 2309, which would have found parts of Evanston's downtown as 'blight' to enable a smaller TIF district focused on core downtown improvements.
The City Council on Feb. 7 voted to table Resolution 2309, a proposal to adopt a finding of blight and to narrow the city's urban renewal (TIF) district to a smaller downtown core.
City staff explained that a tax increment financing (TIF) district directs the increase in property taxes that results from private investment back into public improvements within the district. Staff said the proposed change would shrink an existing district created in 1982 to a more manageable core area so that incremental taxes would be remitted to downtown improvements rather than to a larger area.
Several property owners said they learned of the proposal only days earlier and asked for more time and comparable case studies. "I haven't had much time to...research," said property owner James Westerman, who urged the council to table the resolution so owners could assess comparable examples and potential impacts. Other commenters raised broader legal concerns about the vagueness of blight definitions and the historical misuse of urban renewal powers elsewhere.
Nathan Prit, a member of the Urban Renewal Agency, countered that "the areas are already designated as blight by the 1982 statute," and said the proposal aims to shrink, not expand, the district and to direct revenues to downtown improvements. Staff and UR representatives cited past local projects (the Roundhouse, the Strand) as outcomes of earlier urban renewal work.
After roughly two hours of questions, comments and back-and-forth between residents, UR members and councilors, councilors moved and seconded a motion to table Resolution 2309 to allow additional outreach and education of downtown property owners; the motion passed by voice vote.
The tabling preserves the current district map and allows staff and the Urban Renewal Agency to provide more information, refined exhibits and outreach before a future vote. Councilmembers said they want better notice and more comparable examples to address property owners' concerns before a final decision.
