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Resolution 1994-13 STATE OF ILLINOIS COUNTY OF KENDALL RESOLUTION 1994-j RESOLUTION APPROVING "HOMETOWN" REVITALIZATION STRATEGY FOR THE UNITED CITY OF THE VILLAGE OF YORKVILLE WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Council of the United City of the Village of Yorkville desire to provide for the continued prosperity and revitalization of commercial and business districts within the United City of the Village of Yorkville; and WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Council have commissioned the Lannert Group to prepare a written plan providing for an effective method to establish the "Hometown" Revitalization Strategy for the United City of the Village of Yorkville; and WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Council deem it to be in the best interest of the community to be the lead agency in formulating this strategy for revitalization of all business and commercial areas within the City Limits of the United City of the Village of Yorkville; and WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Council deem it necessary to provide for the effective revitalization and maintenance of commercial and business areas within the city to gain as widespread support and information from various citizen and business groups as possible; and WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Council of the United City of the Village of Yorkville have reviewed the Lannert Group "Hometown" Revitalization Strategy, written summary and charts contained therein, and are desirous of adopting said written report as the blueprint for said plan: NOW THEREFORE, UPON MOTION DULY MADE, SECONDED, AND APPROVED BY A MAJORITY OF THOSE MEMBERS VOTING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE UNITED CITY OF THE VILLAGE OF YORKVILLE, do hereby approve and adopt the attached Lannert Group "Hometown" Revitalization Strategy for the United City of the Village of Yorkville and hereby authorize the Mayor and City Council to commence formulating the input group set out in that plan to make it effective from the date of the execution of this Ordinance. It is further approved that the sum of$2,000.00 shall be permitted as initial expense for the implementation of said plan, with additional funding to take place by majority vote of the City Council from time to time thereafter. The subject plan is attached hereto and made a part hereof as though set forth in full. Passed this day of x994. Mayor A. Attest: TIAI C Clerk ' "HOMETOWN" REVITALIZATION ' STRATEGY FOR ' THE UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE ' July, 1994 1 1 1 "HOMETOWN" REVITALIZATION STRATEGY ' FOR ' THE UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE ' The United City of Yorkville and its citizens are concerned about the future of its downtown. Left to its own, it appears that the downtown is destined to a ' life of apathy, vacancy, and deterioration. Recent efforts such as the "Hometown" Days, the new street lights, and the Main Street program are ' evidence that the community is ready and willing to pursue a comprehensive revitalization strategy for Yorkville's downtown. Furthermore, a compelling ' reason to begin downtown revitalization now is that the draft 1994 Comprehensive Plan documents probable dramatic growth in Yorkville's ' immediate future. Wise planning of this growth can help augment revitalization of the downtown. Those who wish to profit in Yorkville's ' potential should also share in the maintaining and enhancing the ambiance of the community. It is to developer's, future businessperson's, and future ' resident's benefit to have Yorkville's downtown be vital. This precedent and/or policy needs to be in place prior to the onslaught, so that all who come ' are aware of their expected responsibility regarding the redevelopment of ' Yorkville's core. This is a large undertaking - reaching this goal will test the regime, the ' resources and the resolve of the community. Yet, the capacity of the community is large, strong, resourceful, and able to meet the challenge. This ' document provides a step-by-step description of how this formidable task can be accomplished and how the sublime goal may be attained. Table 1 ~HOMETOWN" REVITALIZATION OUTLINE ' YORKVILLE CITY COUNCIL ' YORKVILLE DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION NCIL MEMBER PLAN COMMISSION ERSHIP CITIZENS AT LARGE CHAMBER SERVICE CLUBS UTILITIES SCHOOLS ' PROJECT TEAM PROJECT MANAGER ENGINEER CITY STAFF ARCHITECT PLANNER MARKET ANALYIST LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT ATTORNEY ' REAL ESTATE EXPERT GRANT WRITER FINANCIER ' PROJECT IDENTIFICATION COMMUNITY VISION GOALS AND OBJECTIVES PROJECT BOUNDARIES FEASIBILITY ' INVENTORY CONCEPT PLANS ANALYSIS EXISTING LAND USE ALTERNATE LAND PLANS ALTERNATE PROFORMA EXISTING UTILITIES ALTERNATE IMPROVEMENT PLANS COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS EXISTING TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATE AMENITIES PLAN MARKET ANALYSIS EXISTING STRUCTURES ALTERNATE FUNDING SOURCES POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS ' NATURAL FEATURES TIF Donations VEGETATION Special Service Area City Funds HISTORICAL PLACES Grants and Endowments Owners Contribution OTHER NOTABLE FEATURES Fund Raisers PLANS AND APPROVAL ' PUBLIC COMMENT PRELIMINARY PLANS FINAL PLANS INFORMATION MEETINGS PRELIMINARY PLAN PHASING PLAN COMMISSION PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING FINAL PLANS PUBLIC HEARING PRELIMINARY LANDSCAPE FINAL ENGINEERING ' POLLS AND QUESTIONNAIRES PUBLIC HEARINGS FINAL LANDSCAPING CITY APPROVAL CITY APPROVAL ' IMPLEMENTATION PHASING FUNDING ' CONSTRUCTION 2 OVERVIEW Figure 1 is a flow chart that shows the relationship of the necessary steps required to prepare a successful redevelopment project. The steps include: 1) Initiation by the City Council 2) The formation of a focus group to manage the project ' 3) A project team of competent technicians who can implement the goals and objectives of the management group 4) Identification of the project ' 5) Feasibility of the project and its parts 6) Plans and public input 7) Implementation of the approved plans. The following describes, in more detail, the requirements of each stage and ' the relationships between the stages. ' CITY COUNCIL It will be important for the elected officials who sit on the City Council to ' initiate, support, and monitor the proactive revitalization of the core of its community. While little could be more significant than the health its ' downtown, the City Council is responsible for all city matters and has not the time required to focus on the intricacies of this project. It is recommended ' that the City Council 1) prepare a resolution to create a downtown redevelopment project; 2) delegate the downtown planning management to an ' organization of vital citizens; and 3) provide or procure the necessary resources to initiate the project. In this role, the City Council creates the ' direction yet weighs the value of the strategy against other city matters ' without conflict of interest. As the project progresses, the City Council will be asked to review the plans ' and documents and make recommendations to the committee. Various stages will also require plan approval, land use approval, and funding ' 3 ' approval from the City Council. As imp ortant it is for the Council to be ' cognizant of the project progress, it is also important that the revitalization committee has the room and flexibility essential to engender creativity. ' REVITALIZATION ORGANIZATION The Revitalization Organization (the 'organization") will be charged with the ' management of the revitalization strategy. The organization can be ' structured in several ways: ♦ A committee under city jurisdiction established by ordinance ' ♦ A private for-profit corporation ' ♦ A private not-for-profit corporation ♦ An Ad Hoc committee appointed by the Mayor. ' Each of these structures has differing merit and constraint. It would be wise to first enlist the members of the organization and to allow them the decision of which structure would best serve their purposes. ' The members of the organization should be a representative cross-section of the community who have a vested interest in the downtown. Members would ' include a council member, a plan commission member, downtown property owners, banks, business persons, chamber of commerce representatives, ' service clubs, churches, public and private utilities, schools and citizens at ' large. Building upon the recent "Light the Way" program, the organization will be a ' single purpose entity solely involved in the strategy to redevelop and enhance the core of the community. The organization will be responsible for, but ' certainly not limited to, identifying the project, developing a strategy, procuring the expertise, technicians, and funding needed to implement the ' strategy, and monitoring the success of the implementation. ' 4 1 PROJECT TEAM ' From time to time, the Revitalization Organization will need advice and technical assistance in order to fully reach their goals. The organization will need to form a team of experts that they can draw upon for advice, recommendations, and technical data. The project team will do the studies, prepare the reports, devise the plans, provide the alternatives, structure the budgets and do the accounts for the organization's review. Because the organization will be composed osed of persons who have other g P vocational interests, it may be advisable to assign a project manager to orchestrate the day-today operations and coordination of the team performance. Other members of the team - who will have a more transitory role - are land planners, engineers, architects, landscape architects, market analyst, real estate expert, financier, attorney and grant writer. As the strategy advances, the organization may find need for other specialist not ' identified here. PROJECT IDENTIFICATION 1 An important initial task for the Revitalization Organization will be the ' identification of the project. Identification includes articulating the community's vision for the ideal downtown, the goals and objectives to support the vision, and the description of the project parameters both physically and fiscally. In this step, the initial downtown theme will be identified - should downtown be "antiquey," office/service, special retail, historical? How about parking, the railroad? What about the river, open space? Etc. The jroect team will be needed to help organize this step. The identification P will require information and data not readily available to the Revitalization Organization. Furthermore, the project identity and theme should be set out in a written mission statement that would be authored by members of the team ' and reviewed by the organization. 5 Even though the organization is close enough to the community to sense a viable initial direction, the plan and statement will be exposed to public scrutiny as the strategy becomes clearly formatted in the later stages. Identifying the boundaries of the downtown will certainly cause debate as will the goals and objective session. These two areas will also need to be revisited when the information from the feasibility stage and the plans and approval stage is obtained. ' FEASIBILITY After the Revitalization Organization has initially identified the project ' parameters, the next step is to test the hypothesis in the feasibility stage. The feasibility stage in divided into three parts that are: ♦ Inventory and Existing Conditions ♦ Concept Plans ♦ Analysis. tThese three steps are interrelated - what happens in one area will effect decisions made in the other. Thus, there is a back and forth dependence on each of these feasibility tools. Likewise, what is learned in the feasibility stage may effect the initial parameters used by the organization to determine the project identity and mission. ' INVENTORY In this step, the project team examines the existing conditions within the boundaries and parameters established by the Revitalization Organization. Each parcel within the established downtown boundaries will be identified and surveyed. The survey will describe each parcel as to parcel number, area, assessed valuation, existing land use, zoning, compatibility, integrity, and status of structure. This information will be compiled in a data base system fand report and also will be shown on an existing conditions exhibit. The team will also study the existing utility systems and the transportation systems that 6 ' serve the downtown area. This information will also be catalogued and ' mapped for planning purposes. Finally, the team will survey the existing vegetation, natural features and historic features that distinguish certain areas ' of the downtown. The organization may determine that these natural and historical features are the areas to build a theme around. ' The team will examine and analyze the existing conditions and make reports ' and exhibits for the organization to review. These conditions will identify trends to either extinguish or to build upon. The tenor of the existing ' conditions may lead the organization to new or modified project direction and mission statement. CONCEPT PLANS Once the project area is identified and the existing conditions are analyzed, the Revitalization Organization will ask the project team to do alternative ' concept plans for the revitalization strategy. These concepts will be based upon the mission statement and alternative theme possibilities. The project team will explore the options in the form of land plans, utility plans, transportation plans, opens space and landscape plans, and funding alternatives. The land plans will blend new land use recommendations with the extension of existing, acceptable land uses and land use trends. These plans will be ' schematic, yet offer sufficient information for the organization to understand the approach of each and decide which is worth pursuing. The utilities, transportation and amenities plans will be adjunct to the alternative land plan suggestions. Because each land use alternative will provide a unique set of interrelationships between the planning disciplines, the utility plans, transportation plans, and landscape plans will offer ' 7 ' respective solution to the issues raised in the optional land use ' recommendations. These combined concept plan alternatives will then be reviewed by the team (the project manager, financier, the grant writer and city staff) for possible funding strategies. Because of their differing nature, not every plan will have ' the same funding availability. Possible funding sources and combination of sources to be explored are: ' ♦ Tax Increment Financing ♦ Special Service Area ' ♦ Grants and Endowments ♦ Fund Raisers and Donations ♦ City Funds ♦ Other Governmental Funds ♦ Owner's Investment ♦ Impact Fees ♦ Developer's Investment. ' The. available funds may indeed modify or influence the land plans. Realistically, the available money will have great influence upon the ultimate ' strategy and land plan. ' ANALYSIS After the concept plans are reviewed by the Revitalization Organization, the ' organization will want one or all to be further analyzed as to feasibility. The further step includes the economic performance, the costs, the revenues, the benefits, the market viability, and the political and social impacts expected of each plan. Considering the concept information, the team will provide proforma data and cost/benefit analysis of the selected concepts. This is a numerical review of the *costs, investments and revenues needed to implement the various 8 reports analyze the economics over time and consider the concepts. These p yz ' present value of money as well as the cost of interest and other carrying costs. This data will provide the organization with an understanding of the feasibility for financing various forms of the revitalization strategy. The organization will also need to know whether or not there is a consumer market and/or investors' market for the alternative concepts. Even if a ' concept describes the ultimate downtown dream - yet there is no reasonable supply and demand conditions for its fruition - then the organization will not ' want to pursue the concept. The various concepts will also carry differing political "baggage" and differing neighborhood impacts with them. Because the Revitalization Organization is as vested as anyone in the community, they will be more sensitive than the project team to the political implications and NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) reaction to the alternative plans. In any case, these issues need to be identified to the point where either solutions are conceived or the alternate is ' discarded. ' When the feasibility stage is completed, the organization will compile their findings and exhibits and make a report to the City Council. The report will ' notify the council as to the progress of the revitalization strategy and the plans for continuing the process. The organization will elicit further council support for pursuing the project on the basis of the findings and the feasibility of the preferred concept(s). ' PLANS AND APPROVAL ' Once the Revitalization Organization has settled on one or more concept plan(s) and once the organization has satisfied themselves they have identified a feasible revitalization strategy, project identification and mission statement, they will progress to final plans and approval. This stage requires 9 ' public comment on the plans, preliminary plans and approval, and final plans ' and approval. PUBLIC COMMENT Inserting public comment at this point of the process is not meant to exercise public involvement from previous points in the project. Depending upon how the Revitalization Organization structures itself, public participation will vary. ' If the organization decides to be for-profit or not-for-profit, then there will be some proprietary information best kept within the organization. If the ' organization is a wing of the city or an Ad Hoc committee, then all committee information belongs to the community. No matter the structure, public commentary on the revitalization strategy will be invaluable. Initially, the organization will conduct informal meetings and conduct polls and questionnaires to ascertain public sentiment. The media ' will be provided all pertinent information and asked to participate in the process as an advocate and reporter. As the plans, feasibility and strategy formalize, the organization will conduct open public forums to explain the project and to elicit public reaction. The initial public forum will be the feasibility report to the City. There will also be ' required public hearings for zoning changes, subdivision plans, redevelopment plans and various funding opportunities. Public participation at these milestones is mandatory both by law and for the success of the revitalization strategy. ' PRELIMINARY PLANS ' After the Revitalization Organization has received public support on the revitalization strategy and concept plans, they will proceed to structure preliminary plans for city-wide approval. The preliminary plans differ from the concept plans at the level of detail. The preliminary plans, prepared by the 10 i project team, will include sufficient information for the city fathers and to understand the intended outcome of the project. Once approved, the ' preliminary plans and the associated documents will become the ' redevelopment master guideline and structure (perhaps The "Hometown" Master Redevelopment Plan). These plans will become the basis for ' developing final plans for construction. Major variance from the guidelines would require new preliminary plan hearings. The preliminary plans include (but are not limited to): ' ♦ Existing Conditions ♦ Preliminary Future Land Use Plan ♦ Preliminary Engineering Plans ♦ Preliminary Landscape Plans ♦ Preliminary Phasing Plans ' ♦ Associated ed A reements and Conditions. ' These plans will be reviewed by city staff and consultants. There will be public hearings before the Plan Commission, Zoning Board and City Council ' to consider the plans and documents. When all is satisfied, the City Council will approve the preliminary plans and the organization will proceed to the final plan stage. ' FINAL PLANS ' The final plans differ from the preliminary plans on the level of detail. Final plans include all the necessary information to ensure proper construction, prepare budgets, and develop construction schedules. Typical final plans include: ' 11 1 r ' ♦ A Final Plat ' ♦ Final Engineering Plans ♦ Final Landscape Plans ' ♦ Updated Phasing Plans ♦ Associated Documents and Agreements 1 These plans are reviewed by City Staff, consultants, Plan Commission and ' City Council to confirm that they are technically correct and are substantially in conformance with the preliminary plans. Once the plans are substantiated ' and approved, the project is ready to begin construction. ' It is not likely that the entire revitalization strategy and preliminary plans will be implemented by one set of final plans. It is more likely that there will be ' many phases of the redevelopment project. The number and extent of the phases will depend on funding, private development interest and market rdemand. Phasing plans will be developed at the preliminary plan stage and updated as subsequent final plans are approved. 1 IMPLEMENTATION rThe approved final plans and contract documents will be used by the organization to establish the funding commitments, hire subcontractors, and rto construct the respective phase of the project. ' The project team will be very active in this process to ensure that the revitalization strategy is being implemented in the manner approved by the ' organization. The project team will be responsible for the various phases to be constructed in accordance with approved plans, with standard construction ' practices, established budgets, and with the agreed upon schedules. 1 r12 ' Supervision of each phase will also include evidence that sufficient security ' and warranty from the subcontractors and suppliers are in place to guarantee against default. Supervisors will be especially diligent that all aspects of the ' plans are being completed acceptably and that the improvements are maintained for a sufficient period of time to insure permanency. This framework for a revitalization strategy has its foundation in tried and accepted planning and redevelopment processes. This strategy will work because the process is reliable, the project is viable, and the community is ' capable. 13 ANTICIPATED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE "HOMETOWN" REVITALIZATION STRATEGY 1. How many people should be on the board of directors of the ' Revitalization Organization? Since the board is likely to be composed of volunteer persons ' who have a busy schedule, it should have several members to keep the process going and to share the load. However, it can not be so large as to be unwieldy. We recommend ten to fifteen ' members who represent a diverse cross section of the community and assorted talents. ' 2. How are the members of the Revitalization Organization selected? The Mayor and City Council should seek the most talented, ' resourceful, and ambitious people in the community who have a vested interest in the betterment of the downtown. This group ' should be informally put together with a mission from the City Council. It will be up to the organization to structure themselves and regulate their operations. 3. How much seed money will the organization need from the City Council? ' One of the primary functions of the organization will to generate its own operational funds. Nevertheless, the organization will need initial funds in order to find a beginning. We recommend $1,000 to $2,000 - anymore should be as a result a written proposal to the City Council that identifies the purpose of the ' funds and how they will extend community benefit. 4. What is the recommended organizational structure of the ' Revitalization Organization? ' The report identifies four possible structures for the organization. Perhaps there are more. The ultimate structure of the organization is in their purview. It seems that the most ' advantageous structure would be the private not-for-profit structure. Among other things, this structure would have better community standing, would have more access to grants and 15 endowments, would have tax advantages, and would be eligible for the tax credit program. 5. How Ion will it take to see progress in the revitalization of the 9 P 9 downtown? The success and the time it takes are dependent upon the talent of the organization and its project team. A reasonable schedule for success is attached. 6. Is not revitalization of the downtown hopeless? Has not the downtown gone the way of the dinosaur? Are not there just too many problems? Are not we throwing good money after bad? ' No. ' 7. It seems that we are always exacting funds from developers to finance our shortcomings. Is this program going to be dependent upon impact fees that may discourage persons from investing in our community? First of all, a deteriorated downtown is a discouragement to ' community growth. Secondly, an attractive downtown will be a benefit to those marketing development in the community. ' Third, the costs of those benefits should be reasonably shared by all. Fourth, it is reasonable to identify the costs and policy for future developers, businesspersons, and residents so that they ' have full knowledge, beforehand, of what the costs and benefits will be. The sooner the policy is in place, the fairer it will be for all. Fifth, it will be imperative that the organization prepare the ' technical support to confirm that an impact fee is equitable and not arbitrary. Then persons will want to participate. Finally, if impact fees become a funding tool, they will represent only a ' small portion of the funds needed to do the job. 8. What then, are the other funding opportunities? ' A successful revitalization ro ram will include a combination of P 9 ' funding strategies. Tax Increment financing allows newly created property taxes to fund public improvements within a specific area. A modest special service area tax to finance ' revitalization projects can be imposed upon the downtown area. With the guidance of a plan, property owner's wills want to invest in improving their holdings. On the basis of a master plan, developers will invest in the downtown. A not-for-profit can 16 ' sponsor fund raisers and seek donations. Grants and endowments are also available. City funds can be used to fund ' the public benefit portions of the project. 9. Are there examples where this type of program has worked? ' Yes to varying in degree and success, downtown revitalization 9 projects have occurred throughout the state. All of the cited ' funding tools, and more, have been utilized. On the local level, Naperville, Batavia, Aurora, and Geneva are examples where ' downtown revitalization plans have been implemented. One can draw their own conclusions as to the success of each, however, there is much to learn from their encounters and the experience ' of their project teams. 9. How soon can we get started? Tomorrow is too late. 17 7/12/5 "HOMETOWN" REVITALIZATION STRATEGY PROJECT SCHEDULE Aug-94 Sep-94 Oct-94 Nov-94 Dec-94 Jan-95 Feb-95 Mar-95 Apr-95 May-95 Jun-95 Jul-95 Aug-95 Sep-95 Oct-95 Nov-95 Dec-95 Jan-96 Feb-96 Mar-96 Apr-96 May-96 Jun-96 YORKVILLE CITY COUNCIL APPROVE PROGRAM FORM ORGANIZATION MONITOR PROJECT REVITALIZATION ORGANIZATION ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE ELECTIONS OF OFFICERS BY-LAWS AND BUSINESS PLAN ORGANIZATIONAL CERTIFICATION PRELIMINARY FUNDING BEGIN PROJECT TEAM MANAGE PROJECT PROJECT IDENTIFICATION COMMUNITY VISION GOALS AND OBJECTIVES MISSION STATEMENT REVIEW STRATEGY FEASIBILITY INVENTORY CONCEPT PLANS ANALYSIS ADDITIONAL FUNDING REVIEW PLANS AND APPROVAL PUBLIC COMMENT PRELIMINARY PLANS PRELIMINARY APPROVAL FINAL PLANS FIRST PHASE FUNDING FINAL APPROVAL BEGIN FIRST PHASE STRATEGI.XLS