Submitted By
Tammie Grossman, Director of Development Customer Services and John Wielebnicki, Director of Public Works
Reviewed By
LKS
Agenda Item Title
Title
Motion to Accept Staff Recommendation to Implement SouthTown Business District Requests Due to Oak Park Avenue Street Project
End
Overview
Overview
Oak Park Avenue was last resurfaced 18 years ago and the existing water mains are from the early 1900’s. In 2021, the Oak Park Avenue Projects will provide necessary utility improvements to water and sewer main infrastructure. In addition, resurfacing Oak Park Avenue includes ADA pedestrian ramp improvements, protected pedestrian crossings and beacons at select locations for added safety. The SouthTown Business District is requesting certain incentives during the March through June construction project when Oak Park Avenue, from Harrison to Van Buren, is closed to through traffic.
End
Recommendation
Recommendation
Accept Staff Recommendations
Fiscal Impact
The potential fiscal impact of these recommendations is $25,000 to be used for delivery subsidies for businesses or, alternatively, advertising and marketing costs. These recommendations were not budgeted in FY 21 and therefore a budget amendment allocating the $25,000 in funding would be presented to the Village Board for their consideration at a future date.
Background
Carnival Grocery Store presented a request for certain business incentives during the closure of Oak Park Avenue from Harrison to Van Buren during the months of March through June. Staff has reviewed the requests and recommends the following actions:
1. Cover costs for signage communicating hours, parking options and detours for the impacted businesses. This signage would be placed in the surrounding community and along the sidewalks in front of the impacted businesses.
Staff Recommendation:
As part of the project signs with business logos directing cars to parking and detour routes to curb-side pick-up locations located to the north and the south of the construction site have been erected. In addition, specific directional business signs related to the Carnival parking lot have been installed.
2. Place a moratorium on all parking fees through the duration of the project (in Village Parking Lot #1 and street parking within a two-block radius of the construction site). Parking is at premium and since vehicles cannot park on Oak Park Avenue near our businesses, our customers will need to park close by at alternate locations.
Staff Recommendation:
Staff does not recommend waiving parking fees because Lot 1 is too close to the blue line entrance and commuters will park in those spaces which will decrease parking options for the District. Instead, staff relocated 15 permit parkers from that lot to increase the supply of metered parking.
3. Compensate businesses for delivery fees to customers who will no longer be able to come to store because of construction.
Staff Recommendation:
We could subsidize this cost for Carnival and the approximately 11 other businesses that provide delivery services to their customers, up to a maximum $25,000. If you reimbursed $5 per delivery, up to a max of 400 deliveries per business, and every business maximized their allotment, that would result in an expenditure of $22,000. We could develop a simple form for them to fill out, indicating the date and address of the delivery, that the business would sign, certify and submit each week for payment by the Village.
Alternatively, staff could create a program that would allow for the reimbursement of advertising or marketing expenses due to the construction project up to $25,000.
4. Implement a parking ban on both Van Buren and Harrison (excluding loading and unloading for Kettlestrings). With the increase in traffic flow going East and West to the alternate route, will be dramatically increased on these two very narrow two-way streets.
Staff Recommendation:
Staff does not recommend doing this because it will prevent residents from parking and walking to the district to gain access to the businesses.
5. Develop program(s) (such as Lake Street’s Shoppers Reward Program) to help offset revenue loss due to construction
Staff Recommendation:
We do not recommend creating such a program because the construction duration is not long enough and there is no staffed business district to administer the program. The Lake Street program was significantly longer in duration than the Oak Park Avenue project. Additionally, Downtown Oak Park had the infrastructure in place to administer the program. Even with that infrastructure in place, the Lake Street Shoppers Rewards Program did not expend all of the funds, spending approximately $46,000 of the total $120,000 that was budgeted for this program.
Alternatives
Requst further analysis of the proposed incentives.
Previous Board Action
NA
Citizen Advisory Commission Action
NA
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
Pending Village Board concurrence, staff will prepare a proposed Budget Amendment to transfer $25,000 from the Water and Sewer Fund Balance to the FY21 Water and Sewer Fund, Public Works - Sewer, Sewer Collection, External Support account no. 5040.43750.781.530667 for this work.
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
NA