To all UNC members and supporters:
Randy Lehner and Abby Sullivan met with Commissioner Lori Healey from the Dept. of Planning, Ald. Helen Shiller and Don Hoehnadel assigned to the Wilson Yard Project, this past Friday, for what was hoped to be an honest discussion about Wilson Yard and community concerns.
Randy and Abby reviewed the key concerns about the Wilson Yard Plan:
- Loss of the #1 requested tenent, the movie theaters
- Extreme density with a 140' sheer wall along Broadway
- Winter traffic study that doesn't reflect peak summer traffic grid-lock
- Further concentration of neighborhood poverty with 5,600 subsidized rentals by bringing more very low-income rentals - see the Illinois Housing Development Authority's rent structure breakdown for Wilson Yard here
- Lack of communication on these major changes
Did Shiller and Healey really want an honest dialog? We don't think so. Their repeated responses sounded like a broken record, commenting that we were misinformed about the project, yet responded with silence when Randy asked them to provide information on how we were misinformed?
When asked why there has been no community meeting for almost two years, Shiller stated she didn't need to hold community meetings because she talked to the people in the community. When the graphic was presented showing 10 Uptown block clubs, representing over 2,000 residents, who submitted letters opposing the housing - see the block club opposition graphic here - Healey responded that the block club presidents were misinformed by UNC. Again, when asked how we were misinformed, the response was dead silence.
Randy and Abby asked that the entire WY plan be sent through the public reapproval process in light of these significant changes, especially since the last amended changes to the plan clearly state that Kerasotes would be an anchor tenant. Healey replied that the framework was in place, they were happy with it, and the plan would move ahead. Shiller stated that the movie theaters were never a major component of the plan--they were always just an after thought.
Healey was silent again when asked why all the submitted questions on Wilson Yard had never been answered in writing. Her second favorite response was to state that UNC had continually misinformed people and that's why so many people sent her letters.
UNC has always carefully taken its information from the numerous Wilson Yard amended changes, since the Alderman and Department of Planning don't care to keep us informed. Randy pointed this out to Healey and was once again met with dead silence.
The we-don't-care-about-the-community tone continued as Randy asked that a TIF oversight board be created and all the Wilson Yard block clubs' presidents be invited to join. Shiller replied that she had formed a WY task force make up of the "stakeholders" in the community that include ONE, COURAJ, the Uptown Chamber and others.
It's crystal clear that Commissioner Healey and Ald. Shiller don't believe that Uptown residents deserve a real voice in what goes into Wilson Yard in the heart of our community. They believe there's no need to keep us informed on the major changes to the plan, and they will not submit the WY plan to any reapproval process. They have our TIF tax dollars and they'll spend them as they choose.
The meeting ended abuptly when Healey got up and walked out of the room without any comment. So where does that leave us? It's clear how little our Alderman and City officials care about community participation in the TIF planning process. They brushed off the #1 requested movie theaters, and continue to push for more subsidized housing.
What's next? It's clear that Uptown citizens writing letters doesn't matter. As we see it, here are some of the most obvious choices:
- Explore grounds for a lawsuit. This will take money to hire a zoning attorney. Is this something you are willing to support?
- Get serious about finding and electing a new alderman who truly listens, communicates and builds community consensus
- Target is not committed to Wilson Yard, no letter of intent. Any community campaign to discourage Target from Wilson Yard would topple the entire plan.
A survey will go out next week for your ideas and input. In the meantime--if you want to express your opinions, outrage, whatever, you can post a comment at www.uncchicago.org on the home page comments. Or for a more active dialog, visit www.buenaparkneighbors.org message board under Wilson Yard.
And remember....Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, that is the only thing that ever has.
Uptown Neighborhood Council
P.O. Box 13324
Chicago, IL 60613
Email: unc.chicago@gmail.com
Web: www.uncchicago.org
Working for balanced economic development, cultural and arts enrichment, and sensible community planning in Uptown
