Fairview Heights council accepts two TIF plans

The process to create the city’s fifth and sixth tax increment finance districts is underway after Fairview Heights City Council members voted Tuesday evening to accept separate redevelopment plans for neighboring areas on the city’s northeast side.

Aldermen voted 8-0 to accept a plan for the proposed North Illinois 159 TIF. Aldermen voted 7-1 to accept the plan for the proposed Ludwig Drive TIF. Ward 1 Alderman Dennis Baricevic cast the ‘no’ vote. Aldermen Frank Menn and Roger Lowry were absent.

The city expects final approval of the districts will occur in mid-July.

A study conducted by St. Louis-based Economic Development Resources concluded that 27.5 acres along Ludwig Drive qualified for inclusion in a TIF district because some of the adjacent businesses were blighted, because a significant portion of the built retail space there remains vacant and property values in the area have decreased steadily.

The site includes the 40,588-square-foot suite that used to house Sports Authority, which left the space in 2014. In all, 54,666-square-feet of retail space within the proposed TIF district is vacant. The city estimates redevelopment costs at $6.5 million.

Across the CSX railroad tracks to the north, 81 acres of vacant land bounded on the east by North Illinois 159 TIF and on the north by Fairview Heights’ city limits compose the second proposed district. A similar TIF study showed the area also qualified for inclusion in a TIF district. Estimated redevelopment costs of the land totaled $31 million.

The two districts are the latest iteration of what the city originally intended to be a single district. According to economic development director Mike Malloy, the plan for a single, larger district was scuttled after officials worried the CSX tracks that bisect the area would mean the proposed district was not contiguous.

State law stipulates single TIF districts cannot cover multiple sites that are not adjacent to one another.

In other business, the council:

▪  Approved Auto Spa owner Steve Campo’s plan to expand the business by building an additional 3,000 square feet of space off the eastern end of an existing building on his business’s property at 10518 Lincoln Trail.

▪  Approved Wendy Fuchs’ request to rezone the property at 5601 Old Collinsville Road to allow her to operate a private school there. The existing building on the property formerly was leased by Magical Building Block Daycare.

This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 9:06 AM with the headline "Fairview Heights council accepts two TIF plans."