Tom Cargie, an incumbent River Forest village trustee up for reelection next month, has come up with an audacious idea to develop space on North Avenue after a tax increment finance district is established: bring in a big-box store.
“I’d love a big box store. Not a Walmart, but I would want a similar retail tax producer…a $2 million sales tax producer. Retail taxes are … better because they’re not coming from residents,” Cargie said during a March 9 candidate endorsement interview with Wednesday Journal.
To do what he is even imagining, Cargie noted a developer would have to go three houses deep into the neighborhood. Money from a yet-to-be-created tax increment financing (TIF) district would have to be used to acquire the homes. He said he was “comfortable saying that on North Avenue, there would be a provision as there was on Madison Street that they [the village] could not use eminent domain.”
Is it widely assumed that a big box is the right answer? Cargie said that it was his opinion. He had not talked with anyone, including real estate people.
“I do not know if that’s what [Village President] Cathy [Adduci] wants,” Cargie said.
Said Adduci, “I don’t see it ever happening. Even if we had the space, I don’t know if a big box chain would be appropriate for our community.”
Big box retailers aren’t building “big” much anymore, she added.
The comprehensive plan and the 2010 corridor study will dictate what would go on North Avenue after the TIF corridor is created this summer. There’d be no call for land assembly like that, she added.
Running for his second term, Cargie was responding to a reporter’s question about what he would like to see on North Avenue 10 years from now. Patty Henek and Respicio Vazquez, also candidates for village trustee, were in the endorsement interview as well. The only trustee candidate who did not show up to answer questions was incumbent Tom Dwyer.
Henek said people would freak out. To calm fears, Henek said she’d love to see a town hall meeting on issues related to development on North Avenue before the public meetings that are called for in the TIF process.
“In those hearings, people can ask questions, but residents are left hanging out there. That’s how misinformation spreads.”
Even still, she’d be surprised if the idea would be embraced, Henek said.
“The challenge would be buy-in. It’d take some creativity,” Henek said. “Maybe it would take a little more effort to attract developers. There’s a natural limitation to those lots.”
Vazquez would like to see the results of a marketing analysis and what recommendations experts would have as to what could be put on North Avenue. He, too, would like a town hall, explaining to people the possibilities. He’d like to avoid the emotional concept of bulldozing homes.
“We ought to be very cautious about doing that,” Vazquez said. “I’m not sure if a big box would work. I’m not wedded to any particular business. Business has to be sustainable in the community and along North Avenue.”
According to the 2010 corridor study, restaurant and retail use should be priorities, no new stand-alone development is recommended. Small token commercial space should not be proposed to justify larger real estate developments. The shallow lot depth will be a limiting factor in terms of potential redevelopment, especially along the blocks to William Street according to that study.
Residents living closest to North Avenue, in responding to the survey that was part of the corridor study, favored restaurants, retail and service uses.
Hampering development along North Avenue are truck traffic, noise and air pollution. Traffic also has a negative impact on surrounding residential neighborhoods.
A TIF was created along Madison Street after months of study and debate. After residents’ outcry, the village added language to required documents that would bar the use of eminent domain as part of the 23-year life of the TIF. The district was established late last year.
No decisions have been made about what kind of projects would be done during either the Madison Street or North Avenue TIFs. The village will do another market analysis to identify what type of development would be appropriate for Madison Street and North Avenue. Projects also would be based on market demands. The Economic Development Commission recommended recently that residents could be surveyed to gauge what kind of businesses they would like both on North Avenue and Madison Street, Adduci said.
The creation of the North Avenue TIF could happen before the end of the year, Adduci added.