]]> By a vote of 41-7, city aldermen and the City Council approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to attract private money for public-works projects, tossing aside concerns from some aldermen that there’s not enough oversight.

“What we set here today will be replicated by many cities throughout this country and many cities throughout the world,” said Alderman Richard Mell (33rd).

Emanuel has publicized the plan as a signature initiative, saying it will help in the effort to rebuild a city badly in need of repairs. Defenders said the plan would help the city complete needed projects it otherwise could not afford and create jobs at the same time.

“I won’t tie the city’s future to our capital’s dysfunction,” Emanuel said of failure to pass a federal transportation bill. “Working together, we have a tool here that takes some of the pressure off of our taxpayers.”

An attempt by opponents to amend the ordinance was tabled on a motion by Alderman Patrick O’Connor (40th), the mayor’s council floor leader. A later vote on an oversight amendment by Alderman Scott Waguespack (32nd), was tabled 40-8.

Alderman Robert Fioretti (2nd), who has helped lead the opposition, said that even though property and sales taxes won’t directly fund trust-backed projects, taxpayers could still get hit if projects fail. “Who will be on the hook if the returns fall short” Fioretti asked.

Alderman Leslie Hairston (5th) said a comparable proposal by President Barack Obama that’s before Congress includes the kinds of protections aldermen sought – but failed – to put in the city ordinance. “If it’s good enough for the national level, why isn’t it good enough in Chicago?” she asked. Hairston also raised the question of ceding authority to the trust’s board, which would be appointed by Emanuel and not directly accountable to voters

During his closing statements, Emanuel directly addressed two opponents of the trust, Aldermen Waguespack and John Arena (45th). The mayor used the example of a 2011 sinkhole near Elston and Foster avenues in Arena’s Northwest Side ward to argue the funding available through the trust is needed to repair Chicago’s infrastructure.

“Alderman Waguespack said Chicago’s not going to fall into the lake. He’s correct,” Emanuel said. “But cars are falling into the street. That’s the difference.”

After Emanuel first introduced the plan about six weeks ago, some aldermen said it did not include enough oversight provisions. The mayor then changed the ordinance to put an alderman on the board and guarantee a council vote on all projects involving city money, assets or property.

He also inserted a provision requiring trust-funded projects to follow city bidding procedures and another barring board members with a financial interest in a deal from voting on it.

That convinced opposing aldermen, but others said those steps did not go far enough. They wanted council approval of all projects, even when it involved only the money, assets or property of city agencies, like the Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Transit Authority or the Chicago Park District.

They also wanted to extend the city inspector general’s investigative and auditing authority to the board and its members, explicitly require trust board members to comply with city ethics rules and ensure the trust be subject to the full force of state laws requiring open meetings and public documents.

Facing that continued opposition, and a potential delay of up to two months, Emanuel last week agreed to delay the vote for six days. That ensured the trust would be approved during his first year and office in before the arrival of world leaders for a NATO conference next month.

Photos: compujeramey Crumbled “L”
DDholer Chicago pothole

]]> Chicagoans would be free to live and work in the same place thanks to a zoning change to fill vacant storefronts and return the city to its roots.

“It’s how Chicago was built,” said Alderman Joe Moreno (1st). “Family in the back. Store in the front”

At Moreno’s request, the City Council’s Zoning Committee approved a zoning change that will allow up to 50 percent of work space in low-intensity business districts to be used for living space.

Currently, Chicago’s zoning code permits only artists to live in their work space as well as those with home offices.

Moreno predicted that thousands of professionals would take advantage of the change, filling vacant storefronts and increasing the city’s tax base.

“Some of these people are living in lofts and selling everything on the Internet, they’re not paying taxes. It’s gonna bring them out of the shadows,” Moreno said.

“Accountants, doctors, artisans can now live and work in the same space. I have many small business people who say, ‘I’d love to have a storefront. I can’t afford my loft apartment and the rental on the storefront.’ Now, they’re gonna be able to combine those.”

In a meeting with concerned colleagues, Moreno agreed that most of the live-work buildings would require a special use permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals. That will give neighbors an opportunity to question the applicant and raise objections.

“I wanted it a little bit more open, a little more flexibility. … It’s just another hurdle that people have to go through,” Moreno said. “We want to have a little more oversight. Hopefully, down the road, we’re gonna be able to loosen up.”

The change was not enough to satisfy Alderman Tim Cullerton (38th).

A former deputy building commissioner, Cullerton questioned why live-work spaces were being excused from off-street parking requirements and whether the units would comply with ventilation, natural light and occupancy requirements of the city’s building code.

“What if I have 13 kids and I have a 1,200-square-foot storefront?” Cullerton said. “There’s a little room here for abuse.”

Cullerton said his Northwest Side ward is struggling with illegal conversions that have created attic and basement apartments in single-family homes.

“We can’t get enforcement on those,” Cullerton said. “The Building Department, the Fire Department, the Zoning Department simply do not have the staff or the resources to enforce those provisions that are already in existence.”

“If we can’t enforce it in single-family homes, how are we gonna enforce this provision and who will enforce it?” said Cullerton.

A Building Department official acknowledged that inundated city inspectors would have to “make some adjustments.”

After a brief recess that allowed aldermen to air their concerns, the Zoning Committee approved the ground-breaking ordinance.

The ordinance will confine live-work units to the ground floor and require them to have “pedestrian-oriented frontage, interior views of the commercial space and a clearly-designated business entrance.” They could be no less than 800 square feet or more than 3,000. The residential space would also have to have its own washroom and bathing facilities. They could not be shared with the business.

Photo: Joye~

]]> Mayor Rahm Emanuel has insisted that his plan to bring speed cameras to Chicago is aimed at improving safety around schools and parks. However, several aldermen are questioning whether the camera push is really more about creating a new revenue stream for City Hall and benefitting some of Emanuel’s political allies.

The original plan called for 79 Chicago intersections that already have red light cameras and fall within school and park “safety zones” to be retrofitted to accommodate for the speed camera. In the wake of aldermanic controversy, Emanuel scaled back the proposed hours cameras would operate around schools in hopes of winning aldermanic support.

He originally proposed speed cameras would run on school days between 6 a.m. and 8:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and until 9 p.m. on Friday. His amended proposal would cut back those hours to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., as well as create a panel that would include aldermen who would decide where cameras should go.

Speed cameras would operate in park safety zones during hours when parks are open, typically 6 a.m. until 11 p.m.Last fall, mayoral aides said the 79 intersections with red light cameras would take priority for speed camera installation because their red light cameras could be modified to also measure vehicles’ speed at a relatively low cost.

The changes raised speculation that the city’s only red light camera vendor, Redflex Traffic Systems Inc., would have an inside track to win all speed camera business citywide. The city owns the camera equipment, but Redflex installed it, operates proprietary software and mails out the $100 tickets for violations.

Redflex’s Illinois lobbying team includes Michael J. Kasper, a lawyer who defended Emanuel in efforts to knock him off the mayoral ballot. The firm’s city lobbyists include former Ald. Mark Fary (12th), husband of Rosmarie S. Andolino, Emanuel’s aviation commissioner.

Another Emanuel ally, public affairs consultant Greg Goldner, also has worked for Redflex, the Chicago Tribune revealed Tuesday. Goldner told the Chicago Sun-Times he played no role in Emanuel’s decision to try to bring speed cameras to Chicago.

Emanuel is insisting that Redflex would not have an advantage over other bidders. “We’re gonna run this in a very open, very transparent, very competitive way,” he said. “And we’re gonna make sure it achieves the goal, which is to keep our kids safe near schools and parks.”

Emanuel aides say generating money for the city has nothing to do with the camera push. The mayor has refused to even acknowledge a revenue boost.

But a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of the 79 intersections proposed by the mayor’s office for cameras — as well as state data about the most crash-prone intersections in Chicago — shows speed cameras could prove lucrative.

Emanuel aides said Tuesday that speed cameras first would be installed at only “a handful” of dangerous intersections within an eighth of a mile of schools and parks. Speed camera sites would slowly expand in the coming years, capping out at no more than 360 locations.

Drivers caught speeding between six and 10 mph near schools and parks would face $50 fines and an additional $50 if the payment were late. The fine would rise to $100 for motorists caught going more than 10 mph over the limit.

It’s possible that drivers who speed through red lights could be hit with fines for both red light running and speeding. “I don’t think there is anything in the current state statute that would prohibit that,” said Scott Kubly of the Chicago Department of Transportation.

Photo: Tripp

]]> Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the creation of the Chicago Infrastructure Trust, an innovative way to leverage private investment for transformative infrastructure projects. Mayor Emanuel was joined at the announcement by President Bill Clinton, who has been helping strengthen the country’s infrastructure for decades, most recently through the Clinton Foundation’s work with large cities like Chicago on energy efficiency initiatives.

“Nothing is more crucial to our long-term competitiveness and job creation than infrastructure,” Mayor Emanuel said. “The Chicago Infrastructure Trust will bring additional resources to stimulate public and private investment in our infrastructure, create thousands of jobs for Chicagoans and ensure that our residents have a world-class quality of life.”

A new program called Retrofit Chicago, will be the first series of investments made by the trust, pending approval by the City Council. By clustering energy efficiency projects across the City and its sister agencies and tapping into private investment, the trust will accelerate retrofit projects that would otherwise not have been feasible.

“I have seen first-hand how investments in our infrastructure can modernize our country, get people to work and improve our economic strength through energy efficiency,” said President Clinton. “One of the biggest barriers to this work is the financing. Through the creation of this infrastructure trust, Mayor Emanuel and the city of Chicago have taken an important step towards addressing that challenge and embracing these opportunities. I’m especially pleased the trust will begin with a focus on municipal buildings, lighting projects, retrofits and energy efficiency projects.”

As the first project of the trust, the City will work with investors to finance roughly $200 million in an effort to reduce energy consumption of participating City assets by 20%. The City currently spends $170 million annually on energy consumption. This project will reduce energy costs by more than $20 million annually, create nearly 2,000 construction jobs and remove CO2 emissions.

The Chicago Infrastructure Trust will enable each project to customize a financing structure using taxable or tax-exempt debt, equity investments and other forms of support. Each project will be coordinated with the City and its sister agencies’ long-term plan for transformational infrastructure investments.

“Having world-class infrastructure is essential for Chicago’s competitiveness now and in the future,” said Jorge Ramirez, President of the Chicago Federation of Labor. “I look forward to working alongside the Mayor as we put people to work revitalizing the crucial infrastructure throughout the City.”

The creation of the trust will require City Council approval, and the trust would be subject to Council oversight. An ordinance creating the trust will be introduced at the March City Council meeting.

Photos: Electric Line, Buddahbless
CTA Brown Line, Vxia

]]> Chicago’s vacation rental license, which was largely ignored and difficult to enforce, has been eliminated. In April, Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed a consolidation that would reduce the number of business licenses by 60 percent to save retailers money and frustration. The vacation rental license was one of dozens targeted for elimination.

Emanuel’s plan to reduce the number of business licenses would wipe out plans to license and regulate condominiums into hotel suites.

“At any given time, there are hundreds of advertisements for vacation rentals, but we only have 64 licenses issued for vacation rental properties,” said Jennifer Lipford, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. “That tells us there are many operating without being licensed.”

Lipford disclosed that the license regulating the cottage industry of condo owners who turn their units into hotel suites would make a comeback in a substitute ordinance.

“The way the current license is written, we can only ticket if we can prove an actual rental occurred,” said Lipford. “The new wording will allow us to go after owners from the minute they start to advertise their condo as a vacation property.”

Alderman Brendan Reilly (42nd), who championed the vacation rental ordinance through two years of debate and 30 legislative rewrites, could not be reached for comment.

In 2010, the City Council agreed to license and sanction an unregulated industry that had become big business in Chicago with rents as high as $750 a night.

Reilly pushed the ordinance over the goal line after appeasing colleagues concerned that foreclosed residential buildings could be turned into vacation rentals. He agreed to prohibit new vacation rentals in residential districts that include single-family homes and two-and three-flats.

Existing vacation rentals in those districts were allowed to remain open if they could prove that they had been operating for more than a year before the delayed effective date of January 1, 2011.

Vacation rentals in all other zoning districts were forced to start from nothing. The ordinance allowed condos to be turned into hotel suites if owners got approval from the condo association, at least $1 million in liability insurance and a two-year vacation rental license for a $500 fee.

License holders were subject to strict inspection, safety and operating standards normally reserved for hotels.

Photo: John Picken

]]> In an effort to combat the latest drug fad, Chicago will go after bars, gas stations and other businesses that sell synthetic stimulants disguised as bath salts that mirror the effects of cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamines.

Less than two months after banning synthetic marijuana, the City Council’s Finance Committee moved to ban a product already illegal under state law but still sold with impunity. Bath salts have become increasingly popular with student athletes because there are currently no tests that identify these products.

The ordinance was unanimously approved after Cara Smith, deputy chief of staff to Attorney General Lisa Madigan, had a presentation for the aldermen. She brought along small vials of synthetic simulants purchased on the northwest side that look like cocaine, but were sold as “ultra premium bath salts.”

“Kids, young adults, buy these over the counter,” said Smith. “In emergency rooms where these kids come in, the most universal term that I hear is, ‘They’re out of their minds.’ We’ve had all sorts of horrible accounts of kids who ingest these and feel the devil is chasing them, are compelled to kill themselves or have horrible car accidents.”

Bath salts are powders containing hallucinogenic stimulants that some law enforcement agents say are as powerful as methamphetamine. Governor Pat Quinn signed a law last year making it a felony to possess certain ingredients contained in bath salts.

The proposed ordinance passed Tuesday by the Finance Committee goes beyond state law by giving the city the power to go after retailers with fines or revoke their business licenses.

“It empowers another set of enforcement agencies, giving them another tool with which we can attack this problem,” said Smith.

Smith told alderman that none of the products confiscated by her office contain any information identifying the manufacturer or distributor. The possible profit for individual retailers is “extraordinary” – anywhere from $8,000 to $25,000 a week.

“The makers of these drugs have been, frankly brilliant in their ability to sell illegal drugs at the corner store,” said Smith.

The ordinance, backed by Finance Committee Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th) is broadly worded to remain one step ahead of the curve.

It would define “synthetic stimulants” as “any product – whether labeled as bath salts, novelty collector’s items, plant food or otherwise labeled – used for the purpose of being smoked, sniffed, snorted, injected or ingested” that contains one of seven substances that can have the same effects as cocaine.

“No licensee…shall sell, offer for sale, give away, barter, exchange or otherwise furnish any synthetic stimulant in Chicago,” the ordinance states. Violators could have their business licenses suspended or revoked. Fines would range from $500 to $1,000 a day.

Smith said the Attorney General’s office is doing its best to educate schools and students, but it’s an uphill battle.

“There ought to be an awareness program in the schools,” said Burke. “The teachers would be aware of this product and have their eyes open about see it around the campus.”

After purchasing a synthetic marijuana product known as Potpurri last fall, Max Dobner smoked it, and then suffered a panic attack, paranoia, delusions and hallucinations before getting in a car and fatally driving 100 mph into a house. A plea from the mother of the 19-year-old convinced the City Council to ban the product in Chicago.

Photos: Theme Park Mom

]]> Chicago’s landmarks ordinance got a lift Wednesday when a Cook County judge dismissed claims that the law is unconstitutionally vague. Judge Sophia Hall sided with the city, frustrating a six-year campaign by landmarking opponents to nullify two landmark districts on the city’s north side.

Historic preservationists were also sustained by the decision, even as they brace for the next round of litigation. “We are pleased, but of course we expect it to be appealed,” said Jean Follett, Executive Director of Landmarks Illinois, an advocacy organization. “It seems like a strong ruling.”

There are approximately 10,000 landmark properties in the city, including 311 individual properties and buildings located in 53 districts. The fight over the current statute, which allows the city to designate properties and areas as historically significant enough to prevent their demolition or extensive alteration, is not over yet. Opponents of the current ordinance, which dates back to 1968, claim that it is so vague that it could apply to any area in the city.

“We are disappointed in her ruling,” said Thomas Ramsdell, a partner in the Chicago office of Michigan-based Howard & Howard PLLC. “The most I can say is we strongly disagree with her reading and interpretation of the binding Illinois appellate court decision of 2009.”

The lawsuit challenged two specific areas: the Arlington-Demington District in Lincoln Park and the East Village District. Last week’s decision is the latest reversal in the case, which dates back to 2006. Judge Hall previously dismissed a twenty-count complaint from the plaintiffs, but a three-judge appellate court panel reversed her decision in March 2009, writing that some of the language in the ordinance that guides landmark decisions was unclear. “We believe the terms ‘value,’ ‘important,’ ‘significant’ and ‘unique’ are vague, ambiguous, and overly broad,” the 2009 opinion states.

The Daley administration appealed the ruling to the Illinois Supreme Court in 2009, but the court declined to hear the petition and sent it back to judge Hall. The plaintiffs then filed an amended complaint. Judge Hall wrote in her last ruling that the words describing the criteria for landmarking buildings or creating historic districts “have common intelligible meaning and are not unconstitutionally vague.”

Photo: City Running Tours Chicago