South Side may be in line for fresh start
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 13 December 2012 12:54
- Written by Paul Gordon
Establishing TIF district may lead to new name
The City of Peoria, which is considering a new tax increment financing district to encompass a large portion of the South Side, may rename the area to help it get a fresh start.
The city is asking the public not only to read the draft of the South Side TIF District Redevelopment Plan but also to vote on one of name proposed names for the district.
Voting can be done on the city's website, www.ci.peoria.il.us. The deadline for voting is Dec. 21.
The south side of Peoria may soon get a fresh start in more than one way, according to the City of Peoria.
Not only is the city considering establishing a new tax increment financing district there to spur new development in a far-reaching area, it wants a fresh name for the area to try and rid the south side, one of Peoria's oldest neighborhood, of any negative connotations, a city development official said.
It has the public to vote on a name for the district from among eight possibilities. The deadline for voting on a name is next Friday, Dec. 21. Voting can be done by completing the SS TIF Name Survey on the city's website, www.ci.peoria.il.us.
Proposed names of South Side TIF, which the city said were proposed by residents and stakeholders within the district, are:
- New Heritage Area TIF
- Martin Luther King Place TIF
- Historic South Village TIF
- New Beginnings TIF
- South View TIF
- Lincoln Heritage TIF
- Veteran's TIF
- New South Heritage TIF
Business that develop properties within a tax incremental financing district are eligible for tax incentives, including using incremental property taxes, to help finance the work.
The TIF redevelopment plan is available for public review on the city's website. The proposed redevelopment project area includes properties in the City's South Side neighborhood, roughly bounded by Martin Luther King Jr. Drive on the north, Western Avenue on the west, Adams Street on the south, and McArthur Highway on the east, including additional nearby properties, as shown on the attached map.
A formal public hearing to review the plan and to submit public comments is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. Feb. 11, 2013 at Peoria City Hall, 419 Fulton St., Room 400.
The majority of the land use in the proposed TIF district is single family residential, but it also includes several pockets of commercial property along Western Avenue and Jefferson and Adams Streets and schools, including Blaine Sumner Elementary and Roosevelt Magnet School.
According to the 81-page plan the city's goals in establishing a South Side TIF District include:
- To create a safe, vibrant, attractive, walkable and affordable neighborhood within an existing urban setting that provides convenient access to jobs, shopping, parks, schools, and churches.
Objectives within this goal include improving the quality of life for homeowners and residents in the Southside Neighborhood by assisting them with repairs and/or property improvements; enhancing the public improvements and infrastructure such as streets and utilities to bring them up to modern standards and improve the safety and well-being of residents; provide for new housing opportunities within proximity to both downtown Peoria and adjacent industrial development, and promoting efforts to increase homeownership and curtail crime.
- Another goal is to capitalize on the retail and commercial potential of key corridors including Western Avenue and Adams Street.
That could include attracting new neighborhood scale retail and restaurant uses clustered around key intersections, which also would expand the city's tax base, and promoting permanent job creation and employment within the Adams Street and Western Avenue corridors.
The plan anticipates more than $60 million worth of redevelopment projects, with the costs taking into account the need to assemble property, rehabilitate or rebuild existing buildings and public improvements. The city's Public Works Department has identified $73.9 million worth of needed infrastructure improvements within the district.
Paul Gordon is editor of The Peorian. He can be reached at 692-7880 or editor@thepeorian.com
