By Mara Perlow
After more than five years of negotiations, plans, and community expectations, the new 12th District Police Station, which was to be built within the Illinois Medical District (IMD) along Ashland Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets, is in jeopardy.
The IMD Commission
had conveyed the land to the City of Chicago to construct the new police
station. Yet this past December the IMD Commission received a request
from Commissioner Arnold Randall of the City of Chicago Department of
Planning and Development to explore other options. Even though the IMD
had turned over the land to the City, the IMD Commission still must
approve all projects within IMD boundaries.
A letter from Randall to the IMD dated December 14, 2007, said, “the City of Chicago, in cooperation with the Public Building Commission, would like to explore the feasibility and desirability of a land exchange with the IMD and other required actions that would allow for a new Costco store to be developed on the current Ashland site.”
The letter said the City’s plans for the land only “contemplate” the Ashland site for the new police station, even though IMD officials understood that decision to be final because of a use approval hearing that occurred more than five years ago. Non medical developments in the IMD must be approved at a use approval or use value hearing, which determines whether such projects are a good fit within the IMD.
This year, the City canceled a second hearing about a week before its April 28 date. The IMD Commission has not received any follow up requests from the City or Costco.
The IMD Commission oversees zoning and land use within the boundaries of the district and has been charged with guiding the area’s redevelopment through implementation of an active land acquisition program. Currently, the IMD's acquisition program is focused south of Roosevelt Road in the District Development Area, where the IMD is the majority property owner. The IMD Commission must review and approve all special-use zoning and potential development projects after receiving community comments. “The Commission considers the input of existing district institutions during this process in order to ensure the compatibility of new uses and developments,” according to the IMD.
Not only must the IMD Commission approve substitution of a Costco for the police station on the land in question, but it would have to give up more of its land as well. Costco would require even more square footage because a store and parking lot would be significantly larger than a police headquarters. Randall’s letter asked for “additional land adjacent to the Ashland site which would be required to permit enough land area for a Costco store.”
A local business owner who wished to remain anonymous said, “A shopping center would be good for the community and would add jobs, but it is not right to bump a new police headquarters coming into the IMD for the sake of Costco. It’s the committing to one and then changing to another is what is bothersome.”
Jay Stewart, executive director of the Better Government Association, also is skeptical of the Department of Planning and Development’s intentions. “A new police headquarters would serve the community well,” Stewart said. “A new Costco could serve the community well also, but it is a little odd to make way for a private entity versus a public entity. The suspension of the police headquarters is strange. If the plan is flawed, then just confirm whether the police station is coming in to the IMD or if Costco is a better fit.”
The next use approval hearing has not been scheduled, so no decision has been made on whether the police or Costco will acquire this coveted piece of IMD land.
To reach the IMD, log on to www.imdc.org or call (312) 633-3434.
