Uplands still opposes N1 zoning

No N1It was a long meeting tonight (a little over two hours), but in the end the Uplands Residential Association reaffirmed last month’s vote to oppose N1 zoning for the Pi Phi house at the corner of Institute and Main.

Our second district councilperson Barbara Van Auken couldn’t be here tonight since she’s out of town, so at-large councilman Gary Sandberg stood in for her, explaining what could happen to the property if it were rezoned or not rezoned. He had clearly done a lot of research on the issue and his comments were very helpful. Also visiting the neighborhood association meeting was at-large councilman George Jacob, who even brought his wife along.

The meeting was very civil and organized. No yelling or fighting. There were good arguments made on both sides. But when it came right down to it, the majority of homeowners just don’t trust Bradley. They haven’t earned our trust. And that’s largely why the N1 zoning request was defeated.

Bradley has stated that they will abide by the wishes of the neighborhood association, so I expect they will not ask for this property to be rezoned at April’s Zoning Commission hearing or any subsequent hearings (in the near future at least).

UPDATE (3/9): As if to provide final vindication that the Uplands made the right decision last night, the Journal Star published an editorial this morning in favor of institutional zoning for the Pi Phi house. Since they’re for it, we clearly made the right decision by voting against it.

They titled their editorial “Bradley is not the bogeyman.” This from the same company that has launched a massive “Save the Journal Star” campaign. Perhaps I should write an editorial of my own called, “Copley Press is not the bogeyman,” and tell the workers there “to relax.” 🙂

They argue that Bradley has been a good neighbor and quote Gary Anna’s assurance that Bradley is “not looking to encroach into the Uplands.” And if you believe Gary Anna, I have a bridge in Brooklyn you might be interested in purchasing. Seriously, I’m sure they’re not looking to encroach right now, but 10-15 years from now, after Gary Anna is gone and a new administration is in place, things will change. We don’t need the precedent.

Potpourri Post

I’m not really in the mood to do a lot of in-depth research on some recent topics in the news, so I’m just going to throw some stuff out there for discussion today.

  • Rod Blagojevich wants to replace the corporate income tax with a gross receipts tax (GRT) and raise payroll taxes. The biggest reason for these changes is so Illinois can provide health care for everyone. I more or less agree with the Journal Star’s editorial on this. As a friend of mine put it recently, Blagojevich is playing on the ignorant among us — those who think that massive tax increases on businesses won’t impact them personally. Of course it impacts them/us — businesses hire fewer people and pass on as much of their increased costs to the consumer as the market will bear. The Chicago Sun Times has a good article on the GRT.
  • I saw on WEEK.com last night that a kindergarten teacher was assaulted yesterday. A kindergarten teacher. Assaulted. By another adult. In the classroom. Think about that for a minute. It’s not enough that we have kids who bring guns to school, now we have an adult that just waltzes in and starts beating a teacher? A kindergarten teacher! We’re on the threshold of anarchy here.
  • If you’ve never read Woodford Tax Facts blog before, you should take a look. They have well-researched and interesting posts, like this one on the history of property taxes in Illinois.
  • PeoriaIllinoisan is keeping up on developments along Main Street. Anyone know what, if anything, is going to be built at the site of the old Steak ‘n’ Shake and the adjacent properties now that the apartments have been razed?
  • Tonight is the Uplands Residential Association meeting where we will be discussing Bradley’s request to rezone the Pi Beta Phi Sorority house N1 (institutional). The last vote we took was to deny, but it was sparsely attended. Now that there’s been more press coverage, I expect there will be a larger group tonight, so there’s no telling which way the vote will go. Some think it would help bring stability to that property, which it probably will — for that property, and in the short term. But I don’t think it will do much to stabilize the properties around it and will give Bradley a beachhead on the north side of Main, making it easier to expand in the future. I’ll be voting against N1 zoning tonight.
  • I’ll be immersing myself in the city’s sign ordinance in the coming weeks. I’ve been appointed to an ad hoc committee that will be looking at that portion of the Land Development Code dealing with signs on businesses. Officially, it’s called the “Form-Based District Sign Review Committee,” and we’ll be meeting a few times in March and April. I expect I’ll learn more about the sign business than I ever thought possible.
  • One of my favorite online journals, The New Atlantis has an interesting article on electronic toys (aka, “robo-toys”) and their effect on children.
  • Baseball season is just around the corner, and it’s time for the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals to defend their title. Which reminds me, I thought it was nice of the Cubs to put this up on their marquee:
Chicago Cubs congratulate Cardinals

😉