Central Area Plan has wide range of impact locally
By Dermot Connolly | May 2009
A range of significant transportation, urban design, open space,and waterfront projects that comprise the implementation phase of the City’s sweeping Central Area Plan (CAP) was discussed at an April 2 community meeting that Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) hosted at the Erie Cafe, 536 W. Erie St.
Meeting sponsors included the River North Residents Association, the Fulton River District Association, and the River North Business Association.
More than 100 people turned out to hear about the sweeping plan, which they were told represents the next step in the implementation of the economic development and land use goals laid out in the 2003 Central Area Plan. It prioritizes the CAP’s key urban design, transportation, open space, and waterfront projects, but does not address the issue of where the funding needed to do it will come from.
Bennett Haller, director of urban design and planning for the Chicago Department of Zoning and Land Use, reviewed the plan. He and Reilly then took questions from the audience about the plan that encompasses parts of the 2nd, 3rd, 25th, 27th, 42nd, and 43rd wards.
Reilly and Haller said that about 30 business and civic leaders participated in the drafting the plan, which took about 18 months to complete.
‘Vision document’
They both noted that the Central Area Plan simply is a “vision document” that needs just the approval of the City Plan Commission to be accepted. Reilly explained that each of the individual projects outlined within the CAP would need to go through the normal procedures before anything comes to fruition.
“I don’t want people to think that if the Plan Commission OKs it, it will go ahead,” Reilly said. “This doesn’t mean that anything will be built. It is not going to happen that way. Each of the projects would have to go through the regular procedures, aldermanic approval, zoning hearings, and a vote by the full City Council. Everything will be done out in the open.”
The complete plan is available for viewing on the City of Chicago Web site at egov.cityofchicago.org.
The plan is divided into chapters on land use, transportation and design, and covers North, South, and Central subdistricts. The subdistricts considered in the Central Area include Cabrini-Green, Near North, River North, Streeterville, the Near West Side, West Loop, Central Loop, South Loop, River South, South West Loop, Near South Side and Chinatown.
In addition to the creation of new green space and the expansion of Ping Tom Park, plans calls for considerable improvements in transportation, including new or improved Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) stations and more underground parking facilities on Monroe Street and elsewhere.
South Loop schools, dorms
More elementary and high schools are envisioned in the South Loop, as well as more student housing for colleges in the area.
One of the least expensive projects along the lakefront would be the addition of 200 feet of land near Oak Street Beach, to create a buffer between Lake Shore Drive and the lake.
A few “shovel-ready” projects, such as the new Green Line station on Morgan Street, are included in the plan. However, City officials said, most of the projects are years away from becoming a reality.
Haller pointed out that the total price tag to complete everything would be something like $16 billion, and no money has been allocated as yet. He said that Chicago being awarded the 2016 Olympics, if it were to happen, may generate funding and spur some of the projects toward completion, but none of them is directly linked to the Olympics.
When he was asked after the meeting about the possibility of getting State or Federal funding for the Morgan Street el station, rather than using tax-increment financing funds, Haller said only that the TIF money is the only revenue currently available.
“My first consideration is how these projects affect the local neighborhood,” Reilly said, noting he tries to act with such care that “I act as if I live down the street from where they are happening. “Each of the aldermen will have to give the go-ahead for the projects in their wards, and I have committed to having community meetings in each of the seven neighborhoods in my ward,” said Reilly.
“We are actually ahead of the curve,” said Reilly, noting that he has held several meetings in his ward already.
Enrique Perez, a Printers Row resident, said one of his chief concerns is that not enough schools are planned for the South Loop. He said he was also disappointed that other aldermen had not held similar meetings to the ones in Reilly’s ward.
Reilly said the aldermen would be able to arrange a combined ward meeting where residents from all wards affected could get together.
Public meetings
Reilly said the original intention was to bring the Action Plan before the Plan Commission by April, but now that may not happen until August, to allow for enough public meetings to be held.
“I have some very strong opinions about it,” said Michael Payne, a South Side resident who said he was most concerned that adequate improvements are not being planned to accommodate transportation needs in the event Chicago is awarded the Olympics.
He said it would make sense to align the South Shore Metra line more closely with the CTA rapid transit system, pointing out that it would serve people going to the Olympic venues planned on the South Side. Haller said he tended to agree.
The plan also mentions other waterfront, open space, transportation, and urban-design improvements, such as expanding walkways where feasible along the Chicago River, Northerly Island, and Grant Park.
Brian Israel, president of the River North Residents Association, said “we do not unreservedly agree with everything in the plan,” but said he likes the idea that it looks at development “from 60,000 feet above,” viewing all the projects in relation to each other, and building upon each other.
“I think it is a great step,” Israel continued. “Too often, we approve one project at a time, without looking at the big picture. Then we come back years later and wonder what happened.”
“I am very impressed with the plan and I especially like the transportation portion,” said one meeting attendee. “But what concerns me is the possible lack of political will” in the City Council to get the projects done in the face of local opposition.
“One thing I have is a deep appreciation for is public transportation,” said Reilly, asserting that he has immersed himself in urban planning and the needs of the CTA and RTA. “All I can say is I have the political will. I am someone who will listen to public input, but I always have regional needs in mind as well,” said Reilly.
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