WCA/MPC Plan Presentation Community Meeting
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West Central Association commissioned Metropolitan Planning Council to study the area.
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WCA/MPC Plan Presentation Community Meeting
- 1. WCA/MPC Plan Presentation Community Meeting November 30, 2016 6:00pm – 8:00pm BuiltWorlds 1260 W. Madison
- 2. Agenda I. Introductions II. The what and why III. Plan background-Road to where we are today IV. Goals and objectives V. Points on plan VI. Who is the Metropolitan Planning Council VII. Plan presentation VIII. WCA Positions & Initiatives IX. Department of Planning and Development X. Q&A
- 3. Introductions • Elected Officials • Alderman Danny Solis - 25th Ward • Zoning Committee Chairman • Alderman Walter Burnett - 27th Ward • Alderman Jason Ervin - 28th Ward • Department of Planning and Development • Eleanor Gorski – Deputy Commissioner of Planning, Design and Historic Preservation • Gerardo Garcia – Coordinating Planner • Abby Monroe – Coordinating Planner
- 4. Introductions • West Central Association – Chamber of Commerce • Founded in 1918 • 501 (c)(4) non-for-profit • Delegate Agency • Executive Director – Rod Burch • President - Armando Chacon • Plan subcommittee members • Calvin Gin – Blue Plate Catering • Rod Burch – West Central Association • Armando Chacon – Century 21 S.G.R., Inc.
- 5. West Central Association – Chamber of Commerce • Consists of 35 board members-all volunteers • Membership based organization consisting of business owners and commercial land owners from various industries • Greektown SSA #16 Sole Service Provider • 850 W. Madison • www.wcachicago.org
- 6. Introductions Community Organizations • West Loop Community Organization-WLCO • Neighbors of West Loop-NOWL • Connecting 4 Communities-C4C • Industrial Council of Near West Chicago-ICNC
- 8. The what and why • Conceived at October 2015 WCA luncheon • Exposed how far behind we are compared to other cities on economic growth, population, jobs, etc… • Got us thinking about growth opportunities for our area • May 2016 - Decided to engage MPC to objectively compile a planning study to identify deficiencies and opportunities for growth in our area • Create a plan that includes policies that will help achieve consistent and sustainable economic growth for our area • Will continue to promote economic growth and development in a way that respects and is sensitive to long standing businesses, new businesses, and residents
- 9. Plan Background-How we got here • Secured funding for study and engaged MPC • Draft completed by MPC and sent to WCA for review • Plan completed after board input and revisions • Presented to Alderman Burnett, Alderman Solis, and Alderman Ervin • Presented to Department of Planning and Development • Presented summary points to WLCO, NOWL, ICNC, and C4C • Community meeting to present to greater community – TODAY!
- 10. Goals and Objectives • Introduce plan on land use and parking • Give business community a sense of the direction and climate for our area going forward • Get familiar with the impact our area plays in our city • Introduce you to the Department of Planning and Development • Other WCA initiatives
- 11. Key points on WCA/MPC plan • Planning document created at a moment in time • Flexible, fluid, and evolving over time as necessary • Forward thinking and meant to promote economic development • Open to further input • Will not eliminate vetting process as we know it today
- 12. Who is MPC Mission • Since 1934, the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) has been dedicated to shaping a more sustainable and prosperous greater Chicago region. As an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, MPC serves communities and residents by developing, promoting and implementing solutions for sound regional growth. • While MPC works to solve today's urgent problems—with a focus on economic development, vibrant neighborhoods, quality housing and transportation choices and well-managed natural assets—MPC consistently thinks ahead to prepare the region for the needs of tomorrow. • Highly regarded as experts on urban planning • www.metroplanning.org
- 13. MPC Report A future for the Near West Side: Report on land use and parking in the West Central Association service area July 2016 Marisa Novara Director Metropolitan Planning Council
- 15. 0 200,000,000 400,000,000 600,000,000 800,000,000 1,000,000,000 1,200,000,000 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Permit estimated value by year Permit activity in the WCA area by value Total permits New construction permits
- 17. 250 270 290 310 330 350 370 390 410 430 450 Jan-03 Jan-04 Jan-05 Jan-06 Jan-07 Jan-08 Jan-09 Jan-10 Jan-11 Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Active retail licenses in the WCA area Active food retail licenses in WCA area
- 18. Free and unrestricted, 4548 Paid on-street (meter), 322 Restricted (standing, loading zones), 400 Permit (residential, industrial, hourly), 240 On-street parking by type Total: 5,510 on-street parking spots
- 21. Recommendations Land Use • Prioritize existing vacant land/surface parking in focus area • Amend Fulton-Randolph Market District guidelines to allow for some residential north of Lake Street
- 22. Recommendations Land Use cont. • Allow density and certainty in development process • Promote policies that stimulate economic development west of Ashland • Invest and develop Ogden Avenue – Key corridor connecting IMD/United Center/FMID
- 23. Recommendations Improve access • Metra stop near Ogden • CTA Green or Pink line infill station • Clarify #20 Madison bus connects to West Loop • Ashland bike lanes
- 24. Recommendations Balance parking supply and demand • Expand metered parking in business corridors including Madison, Randolph and the Fulton Market District • Reinstate paid Sunday meters • Explore performance pricing
- 26. Other WCA positions and initiatives • Move PMD eastern boundary to Ogden • Vitalize main corridors including Madison, Randolph, Fulton, Lake, and Halsted • Invest in infrastructure improvements to accommodate more density • Improve pedestrian lighting on Lake Street • Promote innovative technologies to help utilize street parking and off street parking such as Parqex, Spothero, Parkwhiz, etc. • Area high school • Farmers Market
- 27. Department of Planning and Development Eleanor Gorski Deputy Commissioner of Planning, Design and Historic Preservation • Understand growth and density concerns • Focused conversation forthcoming in January 2017 to develop community- supported design guidelines • Design guidelines will cover building design, parking and open space • WCA plan components DPD actively supports: • Encourage new growth to attract more residents and jobs • Developers should be confident that they can rely on underlying zoning and support from elected officials • Ogden included in Kinzie Industrial Corridor Modernization Study • Enhanced collaboration between community members, DPD, elected officials and local businesses
Editor's Notes
- Since 1934, the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) has been dedicated to shaping a more sustainable and prosperous greater Chicago region. As an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, MPC serves communities and residents by developing, promoting and implementing solutions for sound regional growth. While MPC works to solve today's urgent problems—with a focus on economic development, vibrant neighborhoods, quality housing and transportation choices and well-managed natural assets—MPC consistently thinks ahead to prepare the region for the needs of tomorrow.
- Our land use analysis considered WCA’s entire service area – in green – with particular attention to the zone with most intense development – in blue – bordered by Eisenhower, the Kennedy, the Kinzie railroad corridor to the north and Ogden/Ashland to the west. This area, which surrounds the new Morgan Station on the Chicago Transit Authority Green and Pink Lines, is where some of the city’s most dramatic new development is occurring and where opportunities are greatest to encourage more development.
- Near West Side population grew nearly 45% from 2000 to 2010. Population growth third only to the Loop and the South Loop. Vast majority of the City’s 77 community areas lost population during that period. The district has gained 20,000 jobs since 2002. New construction permits have increased five fold since the Recession and are headed back to their pre-recession peak This is clearly an area that’s booming. So – just to address this question up front - why do we suggest policies to encourage the area’s continued growth? Because growth… creates more space for people to live and work Because growth – due to recent changes to city ordinance and Aldermanic expectations – now means onsite residential affordability, so we have a range of incomes in the area Because growth creates both construction jobs and permanent jobs Because more residents and employees bring more restaurants, retail, hotels, tourist attractions and recreational businesses to the area All of those things generate tax revenue not only citywide but also locally for schools, parks, & infrastructure Our view is that the continued growth of the Near West Side is vital NOT ONLY for the future of Chicago, but also for the area itself. With that in mind, MPC drafted recommendations for the continued smart growth of the West Loop and the Near West Side. Our recommendations generally fall under 3 areas: land use, accessing the area and parking.
- I mentioned permits earlier. The value of building permits recorded in the WCA district exceeded $1 billion for the first time in 2015 as the total number of permits in the area reached more than 2,000.
- As the following heatmap of building permits in the WCA district shows, the permits have been largely concentrated in the focus area and along the east and west edge of the Kennedy Expressway—the areas of the district closest to downtown. In addition, there were significant building permits released for the Illinois Medical District area thanks to the construction of Rush Medical Center’s major new hospital tower.
- Here’s a look at the retail environment Which has expanded almost constantly since 2003; a 59 percent increase in retail food licenses.
- There are 5,510 parking spots in the study area and 83% of them are free and unrestricted. Which might sound nice except when you consider that when street parking is free, people tend to leave their cars stagnant for long periods of time That is challenging for local businesses whose customers struggle to find a parking spot near their destinations when there is little turnover. An owner of a fitness business for instance told us that they routinely get calls from people cancelling their participation in a class they signed up for because they can’t find parking. Of course we want to encourage people to walk, bike and take transit but not everyone can or will and it does have an impact.
- the downtown zone expansion that passed earlier this year allows new projects throughout the focus area to take advantage of downtown density bonuses. For example, areas that are currently zoned for industrial uses near the Morgan CTA station can now apply for the downtown zoning class. We see this as an important change that reflects the value of investing in mixed-use, high-density construction around the transit system. As I mentioned earlier, under the Planned Development process that this triggers, and with the expectation that several area aldermen have for their wards, that now generates not only at least 10% onsite affordability within the area, but also economic development benefits in other parts of the city through the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund.
- There is 900,000 sq ft of vacant land or surface parking in the focus area alone. W expansion of downtown zone & bonus system = almost 4 m sq ft of developable land just within the focus area. Want to make clear: reducing surface parking does not have to mean reducing parking. It can mean that public parking is built into whatever gets built above it. It simply means that there are likely better uses for valuable land than surface parking. There is already residential north of Lake St. The reason residential was originally prohibited North of Lake at all was concerns about incompatibility between residential uses and industrial uses. Increasingly, industrial uses are turning to restaurants, technology hubs and art galleries. Without heavy industrial use, we see no current reason to continue this restriction. We agree of course there should be compatible design with the historic district.
- The expansion of downtown zone & bonus system supersedes lower density zones in the area – our view is that that should be honored and developers should have some certainty about what their zoning will allow them to do. Areas to the west of Ashland and the west of the IMD are not nearly as strong as the West Loop. We propose strengthening connections between Randolph St and the United Center, the IMD, Malcolm X campus and residential neighborhoods. As someone who lived and worked for many years in North Lawndale, I feel the need for that personally. We look to Ogden Avenue as a major focus of investment – includes making it more pedestrian friendly as the street itself as well as redeveloping key sites along the street that are currently parking lots.
- We recommend a new Metra station along the Milwaukee District North, Milwaukee District West and North Central Service lines in the WCA focus area. Currently people using Metra to get to the West Loop – and these numbers will only increase with Google and McDonalds and so on – have to go all the way in to Union Station or Ogilvie and then backtrack to the West Loop. If we’re going to be responsive to providing transit to job centers, this is ground zero. We also recommend that CTA consider adding a pink or green line stop - Pink line could be closer to the United Center, while a Green line stop at Damen would fill a huge gap between Ashland and California. We recommend that the CTA add clear indicators at Loop Link stations downtown that the #20 Madison bus connects to the West Loop. In terms of biking, The district does have a useful east-west biking corridor along Randolph Street and a connection to the north and south via Halsted Street. But missing from the bike network are useful bike lanes on Ashland Avenue, which would help link the neighborhood more comprehensively to the Wicker Park and Logan Square neighborhoods. Ashland bike lane would connect to existing bike lanes on Randolph.
- I noted earlier that 83% of parking in the area is free and unrestricted. Only six percent of all on-street parking is paid metered, even in high activity areas. For example, there are no meters on Randolph Street. I’ve already mentioned the challenges this poses for local businesses whose customers struggle to find a parking spot near their destinations. In addition on Sundays in the area, all meters are free due to the 2013 Chicago parking meter concession renegotiation. This allows people to park Saturday night after the meters expire and not have to move their cars until Monday morning, prohibiting customers from using those spaces in the meantime. This has caused concern in some retail areas, such that paid Sunday parking has been reinstated for retail corridors in Wicker Park, Bucktown, Lakeview and Wrigleyville. We recommend the same for West Loop retail corridors. Adding Sundays could add up to $500,000 in new revenue and adding meters would generate from $1.5 – 3m annually. We’d propose splitting the increased Meter revenues between our annual true-up with Chicago Parking Meters and local infrastructure such as sidewalk, street and transit improvements. go toward improvements in that area. Performance pricing: We recommend instituting performance pricing, or variable pricing, on a neighborhood level. Performance pricing bases the hourly cost of parking at a meter on current demand for that space, rather than on an arbitrary flat rate. Given its proximity to the United Center, WCA could follow the lead of Washington, D.C. and institute demand pricing on game days. In the Ballpark District in DC, they use different hourly rates, up to $8 per hour, depending on the stadium’s schedule. Similar to what we have become accustomed to with Uber and Lyft. San Francisco has institutionalized variable pricing with a system called SF Park, where parkers can check real-time space availability and pricing by smartphone.