Just weeks after launching an annexation drive on its northern border and a year after watching an economic turnaround on Dundee Road, Palatine officials are ready to tackle the town’s long-declining downtown with tax incentives for developers.
The village is proposing to designate the downtown area a tax-increment financing (TIF) district in an effort to jump-start redevelopment, much like what has happened in neighboring Arlington Heights.
Business owners say it’s about time the village started helping to shore up downtown, where storefronts stand vacant on highly visible corners and small boutiques struggle off the beaten path.
The area’s decline has led to a loss of tax revenues, according to a report on the proposed TIF district by consultants Kane, McKenna and Associates.
Still, some business owners are leery of a plan that does not offer any vision for a new downtown.
“A TIF is great, as long as there is an idea of where it is going,” said Ira Kosova, owner of Ira’s Citgo and Auto Repair at Palatine and Plum Grove Roads. “Here, there is no idea where it is going. It’s very vague.”
He wonders if Palatine can emulate what’s happening in a nearby village.
“Arlington Heights turned out real nice, and if you use that as a model, they certainly could find the faults that happened in Arlington Heights and avoid them,” Kosova said.
Palatine’s proposal is vague because it’s new, said Village Manager Michael Cassady, adding that he sees a need for a planner and architectural firm to help provide a master plan for downtown.
“What we are doing is positioning the village of Palatine to get the private sector interested in investing in Palatine,” he said.
Under Illinois statutes, towns may declare certain areas to be blighted and eligible for tax-increment financing. The state legislature provided a wide variety of factors that can be considered blight, from aging, dilapidated buildings to areas that suffer from a lack of community planning.
Once a TIF district is created, the real estate tax base within the boundaries remains frozen for about 20 years. As the land is developed and property values rise, the surplus tax revenues are used to pay for property acquisition or improvements there.
In Palatine’s proposal, the district has a meandering boundary that straddles the Union Pacific rail line and takes in much of the downtown, as well as several blocks of residential areas. The boundaries are subject to change, Cassady said.
Under one scenario, all the property in the proposed TIF district could be rezoned for multi-use, except for public areas. As an example, Cassady said that many of the high-rises in Arlington Heights have retail stores on the ground floor.
If the TIF district is approved, the Village Council may consider rezoning to accommodate potential developers who might propose similar projects.
For years, officials have listened to complaints about a fading downtown.
“We really tried to give the private sector as much time as we could to revitalize” on its own, Cassady said.
But the problems of the downtown turned out to be too big for individuals to tackle, he said.
For many businesses, the proposed TIF district is an overdue lifeline, said Desiree Groenland, owner of Desiree’s Stamps and Crafts shop, 47 W. Slade St.
“It seems like it’s taken a long time to come about,” she said. “I’ve been waiting a long time.”
