Arlington Heights Mayor Thomas Hayes mentioned the village has obtained questions and issues in regards to the Chicago Bears’ latest utility for a demolition allow at Arlington International Racecourse, prompting the mayor to elucidate on the Village Board assembly Monday evening why the request is being thought of.
“The village does not have any authority to withhold approval of demolition for any reason if the application is complete and the property owners’ demolition plans comply with the village code,” Hayes mentioned on the assembly.
He and different Village Board members mentioned the village is “100% committed” to transparency because the village and staff navigate the early phases of what might be a behemoth venture on the outdated racetrack.
The Bears closed on the 326-acre racecourse web site in February, then utilized May 3 to tear down the enduring grandstand. The staff has proposed constructing a multibillion greenback NFL stadium and adjoining mixed-use industrial, residential and leisure district on the web site — though the group has not but dedicated to any particular idea for the property.
Hayes mentioned if the village approves the allow, a schedule for the tear-down work will turn into public.
However, he mentioned, the Village Board doesn’t have a task within the evaluate of approval of demolition purposes. Village Manager Randy Recklaus later confirmed that the village Building and Life Safety Department would coordinate processing for an utility to demolish the grandstand.
A village spokeswoman beforehand informed Pioneer Press the staff’s utility “is being routed through multiple departments for review. This is the same process that any demolition permit would go through.”
Recklaus mentioned Monday evening the street to approval would seemingly be a couple of weeks or a month lengthy and would contain some backwards and forwards discussions.
“They will are available with a plan, we’ll say ‘how about you fix this?,’ he mentioned.
The Bears filed paperwork with the village the day after Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi raised the worth of the property to about $197 million, although staff officers have mentioned the timing of the applying and the assessor’s change in valuation weren’t associated. The attainable change within the worth of the property might increase the staff’s property tax invoice to $16 million — up from $2.8 million when the racetrack was final in operation.
Trustee Jim Tinaglia took Hayes’ assertion as one other likelihood to emphasise the village’s efforts at transparency because the Bears and different native authorities our bodies take the primary tentative steps towards redeveloping the property.
“I think in the past, there have been questions about what we know, what we don’t know — maybe holding back information,” Tinaglia mentioned, deeming the demolition purposes as “just one more step in the process.”
In the meantime, “we are doing all that we can to be as transparent as possible about everything that’s going on out there,” he mentioned.
Citizens have up to now come earlier than the board accusing trustees of taking aspect advantages from the staff as negotiations proceed.
Village leaders have strongly denied these accusations. They’ve additionally repeatedly rejected options that the village plans to supply the staff public funding for a growth, saying the Bears will solely get tax breaks if the village determines the venture will likely be a web financial achieve for residents.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com