President and Board of Trustees

123 Madison Street Village of Oak Park Oak Park, Illinois 60302 www.oak-park.us Meeting Minutes President and Board of Trustees Monday, February 11, 2019 6:30 PM Village Hall I. Call to Order Village President Abu-Taleb called the Meeting to order at 6:34 P.M. II. Roll Call Present: 7- Village Trustee Button, Village Trustee Taglia, Village President Abu-Taleb, Village Trustee Tucker, Village Trustee Moroney, Village Trustee Boutet, and Village Trustee Andrews Absent: 0 III. Consideration of Motion to Adjourn to Executive Session to Discuss Personnel It was moved by Village Trustee Button, seconded by Village Trustee Boutet, to enter into Executive Session pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) - personnel. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 7- Village Trustee Button, Village Trustee Taglia, Village President Abu-Taleb, Village Trustee Tucker, Village Trustee Moroney, Village Trustee Boutet, and Village Trustee Andrews NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 V. Reconvene to Special Meeting in Council Chambers at 7:30 p.m. and Call to Order The Special Meeting reconvened at 7:37 P.M. VI. Roll Call Present: 7- Village Trustee Button, Village Trustee Taglia, Village President Abu-Taleb, Village Trustee Tucker, Village Trustee Moroney, Village Trustee Boutet, and Village Trustee Andrews Absent: 0 VII. Agenda Approval Item F was tabled to a future Meeting. It was moved by Village Trustee Tucker, seconded by Village Trustee Boutet, to approve the Agenda as amended. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 2/22/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes February 11, 2019 VIII. Proclamations A. ID 19-65 Proclamation - Black History Month Village Trustee Tucker read the Proclamation aloud. Donna Calendar spoke about the Harambee program and their event at Longfellow School on February 22. There was a brief performance. It was moved by Village Trustee Andrews, seconded by Village Trustee Boutet, that this Proclamation be adopted. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. IX. Public Comment Cynthia Ross. Ms. Ross discussed the drawbacks of increasing the dog limit in multi-unit buildings. Jim Peters. Mr. Peters expressed concern regarding the current budget process and gave recommendations regarding next year's budget process. X. Consent Agenda Approval of the Consent Agenda It was moved by Village Trustee Andrews, seconded by Village Trustee Tucker, to approve the Consent Agenda. The motion was approved by the following vote: AYES: 7- Village Trustee Button, Village Trustee Taglia, Village President Abu-Taleb, Village Trustee Tucker, Village Trustee Moroney, Village Trustee Boutet, and Village Trustee Andrews NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 B. ORD 19-14 An Ordinance Repealing and Rescinding Ordinance Number 18-401 and Deleting Article 37 (“Administrative Procedures for PSEBA Claims”) From Chapter 2 (“Administration”) of the Oak Park Village Code This Ordinance was adopted. C. RES 19-69 A Resolution Authorizing the Release of Certain Executive Session Minutes This Resolution was adopted. XI. Regular Agenda E. ID 19-51 Motion to receive the Findings of the Environment and Energy Commission (EEC) Related to the Use of Plastic Straws Village Manager Pavlicek stated that last May, Village Trustee Andrews requested that Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 2/22/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes February 11, 2019 the use of single-use plastic straws be referred to the Environment and Energy Commission. The EEC has reviewed the topic and recommendations will be presented tonight. Mary Tara Joyce. Ms. Joyce stated that thermal receipts should not be recycled, as the paper contains BPA, a harmful chemical. Andrea Densham, representing Shedd Aquarium. Ms. Densham spoke in support of reducing plastic use, particularly plastic straws. She encouraged the Board to move forward with this. Marsha Borders, representing the Environmental Committee of the League of Women Voters. Ms. Borders discussed the work of the organization to reduce the carbon footprint. Beverly Graham, representing the Environmental Committee of the League of Women Voters. Ms. Graham discussed the Shedd Aquarium's initiative regarding reducing plastic straws and how the League continues this work in Oak Park. Sustainability Manager Mindy Agnew provided an overview of how the commission arrived at their recommendations. EEC Member Steve Morales thanked the Shedd Aquarium and League of Women Voters for their support. The commission's recommendations are: education of restaurant staff and patrons on the negative effects of single-use plastics, standardizing to "upon request only" dispensing of single-use plastic items and collection of data similar to what was done regarding the use of plastic bags. They are not recommending an ordinance, as restaurants have already taken the initiative to reduce the use of plastics. Mr. Morales and Ms. Densham of the Shedd Aquarium answered questions from the Board. Ms. Densham discussed the negative effects of plastic in the water supply. Mr. Morales discussed plans for educating and marketing of low plastic initiatives. Village Trustees Boutet and Taglia appreciated the educational approach used with businesses versus a punitive approach. Village Trustee Andrews suggested a more formal presentation that includes costs. There was consensus and direction to bring back to the Board with costs. D. ID 19-31 Inclusionary Housing Village Manager Pavlicek stated that in September, the Board requested that staff research the status of existing affordable housing in the Village and develop recommendations for an inclusionary zoning ordinance. Staff is presenting their recommendations based on Evanston's ordinance. Village President Abu-Taleb commented that when considering an affordable housing ordinance, the Village has to consider the state of its economy. It is necessary to continue development and reach goals in order for Oak Park to be affordable to as many as possible. The Village needs to be able to provide value for those who want to invest in the community, i.e., higher density, lower fees, reduced parking requirements of subsidized land. There need to be tradeoffs and compromise and to be open for business at all times. Alicia Chastain. Ms. Chastain asked the Board to consider the opinions of all Village stakeholders, including renters and homeowners, in addition to the developers. She Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 2/22/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes February 11, 2019 asked that the Board consider a moratorium on new development. Reverend C.J. Hawking. Rev. Hawking recognized Housing Forward, who accommodated the Village's homeless population for 36 continuous hours during the recent cold spell. She asked the Board to consider 15 to 20% or a $200,000 in-lieu-of rate. Reverend Eric Biddy. Rev. Biddy is hoping for a robust and effective ordinance. He would like for the well being and improvement of the lives of the poor to be taken into consideration. John Harris, representing the Oak Park Homelessness Coalition. Mr. Harris thanked the Board for it's leadership and spoke about community accomplishments regarding affordable housing. Lynda Schueler, representing Housing Forward and the Oak Park Homeless Coalition. Ms. Schueler commended the Village for taking up the issue of inclusionary zoning. However,this will not produce housing for low income earners. David Pope, representing the Oak Park Residence Corporation and Oak Park Housing Authority. Mr. Pope agreed with President Abu-Taleb's comments as well as staff's recommendations. He provided suggestions to help the Village achieve their goals. Joshua Klayman. Mr. Klayman thanked the Board for bringing this to the public during it's development. He noted that integration is an important goal as well as affordable options. Chris Donovan. Mr. Donovan asked where the opportunity for affordable housing is, noting that it is only in rentals. He discussed various incentives available. Arti Walker-Peddakotla. Ms. Walker-Peddakotla noted that the Village needs to consider who will be affected by this policy. Those individuals need to have a seat the the Board table. Director of Development Customer Services Tammie Grossman defined affordable housing as being no more than 30% of a household's income. Combined with transportation costs, that percentage shouldn't exceed 40%. Maintenance and property taxes are factors as well. She discussed Village goals and documents that guided staff towards their recommendations. The benchmark for affordable housing in 10%. Oak Park was at 18.4% in 2013 and 22.6% in 2018. Staff consulted with the Oak Park Area Association of Realtors, the Oak Park Residence Corporation, Oak Park Economic Corporation as well as private stakeholders and established six recommendations. Ms. Grossman acknowledged that these recommendations are conservative but they can always be strenghthened or made more flexible in the future. The recommendations are: develop a stand alone inclusionary housing ordinance, allow a fee to be paid by developers in lieu of creating on-site affordable units, establish specific transit-oriented inclusionary housing development areas, create affordable housing development bonuses, reduce permit fees for affordable housing units and limit inclusionary housing requirements to development of rental apartments and townhomes. She provided details for each recommendation. Executive Director of the Oak Park Economic Development Corporation John Lynch stated that developers are open to contributing to affordable housing and it is becoming a normal part of doing business. What is difficult is getting the land at a reasonable price in order to make it a plausible transaction. He gave examples. Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 2/22/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes February 11, 2019 Village Trustee Boutet expressed concern regarding the population with the lowest incomes and asked what could be done. Ms. Grossman stated that at that income level, some other subsidy would be needed, i.e., vouchers through the Housing Authority, etc. A developer would not be able to build a unit and support it at 30 % or below 50% AMI without some type of subsidy attached. There was a discussion regarding costs of construction and the value of a property. Ms.Grossman explained how the fee-in-lieu option would help fund projects and programs targeting the lowest income population. Village Trustee Andrews expressed concern regarding the fee-in-lieu option creating a wealthy downtown and grouping affordable housing in other neighborhoods. Ms. Grossman referred to the low and moderate census tract areas in the Village. She is not concerned about that happening. Village Trustee Andrews would like to see a mandatory set aside with an option to buy out a percentage of that set aside to fuel other projects. Village Trustee Button understands the concern of concentrating low income housing in one area, but that hasn't happened in Oak Park. She trusts that the agencies entrusted with those dollars would not let that happen. Village Trustee Tucker noted that if the Village is too robust in their requirements, they won't have the developments needed to reach their goals. Ms. Grossman added that is the reason for recommending incentives for developers such as height variances, reduced permit fees, reduced parking requirements, etc. Village Trustee Taglia commented about unintended consequences. He asked how the Village can avoid having too many tall buildings. Ms. Grossman stated that the ordinance will have incentives that encourage mid-size developments. Village Trustee Moroney acknowledged that the Oak Park housing stock is a unique mix. There is currently a range of affordable housing that contributes to the economic diversity. He explained that by building new developments at higher price points, they are freeing up demand, which adds to supply, and prices go down. He discussed areas in the Village that hasn't seen redevelopment in years. Affordable housing is not free; it comes from somewhere, such as reducing fees elsewhere. The real affordability crisis in Oak Park is people living in a home with taxes too high to maintain. This needs to be acknowledged. It might be worthy to broaden the definition of affordable housing and use those fees to assist that population. Village Trustee Boutet noted the difference between affordable housing and housing affordability. She acknowledged the issue of affordability for everyone in Oak Park but the Village cannot ask developers for enough money to provide tax relief to the average homeowner. This particular ordinance will be to impact the lowest income population, who need it the most. She spoke about the fees-in-lieu as the way to serve the most needy. Village President Abu-Taleb suggested setting a goal to collect $5 million over the next five year to use for affordable housing projects and programs. He discussed how to attract developers, and that is to be willing to compromise, such as tolerating traffic and tall buildings. Without that, the Village won't be able to reach any of their goals. He suggested providing discounts on land. He asked if It is possible to subsidize rents for people living in existing housing stock. Village Manager Pavlicek stated that housing choice vouchers are available for the rental market but not the owner occupied market. For owner occupied properties, there are dollars received from HUD to do life safety improvements. That is how the Village has always tried to assist those homeowners. Ms. Grossman added that Housing Forward has a flexible rental assistance program. Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 2/22/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes February 11, 2019 The Board addressed policy questions. Village Trustee Button wanted to give direction to move forward tonight. Village Trustee Andrews wanted more information and stated that this should be thought through and not rushed. Village Trustee Tucker suggested that staff do a draft ordinance for the public and the Board to react to in order to move the process along. Village Trustee Taglia stated that the Trustees needed to be involved and that there are many questions to consider. Village Trustee Moroney stated that including the quarter mile around the Blue Line and east of Ridgeland is a mistake. Village Trustee Boutet thanked Village Trustees Button and Tucker for pushing this forward but she did not want to rush it through either. However, she felt it would be reasonable to discuss what areas development should apply to. Village Trustee Taglia agreed with Village Trustee Moroney. Village Trustees Andrews and Button supported the area near the Blue Line but agreed that it should not include areas east of Ridgeland. Village Trustee Boutet wants to see affordable development on Madison Street and the Austin Blue Line stop removed. Village Trustee Tucker was supportive of the Blue Line radius and to avoid the Austin Green Line stop. Ms. Grossman explained why the Blue Line area was included in the recommendations. Village President Abu-Taleb was supportive of the Blue Line and not east of Ridgeland. Ms. Grossman summarized that the Board wants to include one quarter mile of the Blue Line with the exception of the Austin stop on both the Blue and Green Lines. F. ID 19-45 Updated Analysis of Renewable Energy Projects This Report was tabled. XII. Adjourn It was moved by Village Trustee Tucker, seconded by Village Trustee Andrews, to adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Meeting adjourned at 10:40 P.M., Monday, February 11, 2019. Respectfully Submitted, MaryAnn Schoenneman Deputy Village Clerk Village of Oak Park Page 6 Printed on 2/22/2019