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1. chrisrobling
   Member

   dear riverside info reader: following please find two 11-28-2006 emails that i sent to olmstedians and preservationists around the country ot alert them to what i considered to be the threat to the legacy we are entrusted with preserving. best regards, chris

   7:49 am:
   Dear all, later today I will forward to you an astonishingly bad TIF plan for downtown riverside. I believe very deeply that this plan must be stopped. We have a few well-intentioned, but frankly inexperienced, pro-development trustees in office just now. They are responding to sincere requests to "do something" in our downtown with quite the wrong remedy. The village staff simply wants more revenue and exhibits zero concern for our heritage in these matters.

   I ask each of you to review the plan, especially the eligibility memorandum, which cites downtown riverside for 'failing to benefit from a community plan' and calls one of our premiere parks "blighted," and then -- if you feel as I do that olmsted's legacy is too precious to be tossed up for grabs in commercial redevelopment -- please use your platform to speak out. this plan is an outrage. Naop has already sided with the angels on this, but we will need charlie beveridge to speak before this is all over. I apologize for intruding on your days as I am, but I think this is the big one. More info to follow. Thank you thank you, best, chris

   4:48 pm:

   dear all,

   attached please find the draft riverside tif plan and project.

   i think any fair and independent review of this by individuals with background in inner-ring suburban infill redevelopment, Olmsted, historic preservation, or even simply knowledge of riverside and its special place in the history of architecture, design and landscape will find it irredeemably flawed.

   the two main narrative sections are the introduction and attachment #6, the eligibility memorandum. the most offensive language is in attachment #6, but the entire plan is a disappointment.

   thank you for your time, we will contact you shortly with more information.

   best,

   chris

   Posted Thursday Dec 28, 2006 11:00 #

2. MikeT
   Member

   Chris, thanks for sharing with us your points of view on Riverside redevelopment. I agree that we need to step back and do rigorous visioning and planning before busting ground and doing a tif, or any other financing measure. I hope the village wants to do this also.

   I saw the letter from the Nat'l Assoc Olmsted Places in the Landmark where they indicated a willingness to assist in our planning.

   Do you know if anything ever came of this? Should we try to follow up with the Village or with NAOP?

   My post in this forum asking for insight into what the Village's next steps is still unanswered. The village mgr replied to my question with a copy paste of the 12-05 text on the Village website, which I will repeat here.

   ************
   December 5 —“ TIF Update

   At their meeting on Monday, December 4, 2006, the Village Board of Trustees defered the matter of AN ORDINANCE PROPOSING APPROVAL OF A REDEVLEOPMENT PLAN AND PROJECT FOR AND THE DESIGNATION OF THE REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT AREA AND THE ADOPTION OF TAX INCREMENT ALLOCATION FINANCING THEREFOR, CONVENING A JOINT REVIEW BOARD AND CALLING A PUBLIC HEARING IN CONNETION THEREWITH. The Board will take up the matter again at 7:30 p.m., January 8 at the Committee of the Whole (please note that public comment is generally not permitted at the COW). The Board expressed a great deal of interest in providing more background on the issues confronting the Village and hearing more from residents on their solutions and suggestions for confronting those issues. The Board will discuss on January 8 alternative processes to achieve this dialogue (who, how, when, where). They will likely consider a timeframe for these discussions as well. The Board members expressed a desire to have the Plan Commission and Economic Development Commission involved in the discussions.

   ***********

   I guess we should be patient.

   Mike

   Posted Thursday Dec 28, 2006 15:26 #

3. ChrisHajer
   Member

   I hope you're being facetious Mike. I don't think patience is called for: there's a lot of work to be done.

   If you place a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will instantly jump out. But if you place the frog in a pot of tepid water and slowly raise the temperature, the frog, unable to sense the gradual increase in water temperature, will remain until it boils to death.

   Quote is from a 2004 issue of IT Professional, but that story's been around a lot longer than that.

   Posted Thursday Dec 28, 2006 17:21 #

4. MikeT
   Member

   ChrisH, that quote, along with Mark Twain's an untried virtue is not a virtue -which is in this forum-, is among my favorite quotes (I know you all are happy for me).

   My patient quote above was not intended to be facetious. It was in response to my question, what is the Village administration planning to do as the next step in this process.

   I was actually trying to be nice and civil.

   My house is on some demolition list. It needs to be off NOW. I want to revisit the TOD study NOW. So this stuff needs to happen YESTERDAY for me. Ask my wife and family. I worry about this stuff 24-7. I dream--have nightmares- about it.

   The village manager said she would get back to me on some questions after christmas. You know what I was thinking about on christmas? tifmas. more tif as they say in spanish.

   I was advising myself to be patient.

   Please, Let's get to work. This IT profesional is already boiling.

   mike

   Posted Thursday Dec 28, 2006 17:43 #

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