ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, Special Service Areas (SSAs) are local tax districts that expand services and programs through a localized property tax levy; and
WHEREAS, Structures placed in the public way such as trash cans, bike racks, bike corrals, benches, security cameras, public art projects, landscaping & all other SSA- associated structures are for the betterment of the community and the entire City; and
WHEREAS, SSAs improve our neighborhoods and deliver certain services the City of Chicago does not currently provide due to budget cuts such as servicing trash cans on city sidewalks; and
WHEREAS, When an SSA owns a trash can on the City's park way, the SSA has to fully service that trash can; and
WHEREAS, SSAs are charged a permit fee by the City for using the public way to provide this integral service; and
WHEREAS, The permit process is cumbersome for SSAs and it does not effectively provide a forum for SSAs to efficiently provide their services to the public; and
WHEREAS, Improving the permit process so that SSAs are able to apply for multiple structures throughout the SSA district with only one permit per structure would increase efficiency in the process; and
WHEREAS, Paying yearly permit fees on any and all structures provided by the SSA that are installed along the public way adds up immensely and inhibits the SSA from providing those services due to yearly permit fee costs; and
WHEREAS, SSAs should not have to pay a permit fee so that it can provide clean, green, and safety oriented services to the residents of Chicago, now therefore
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF CHICAGO CITY COUNCIL: SECTION 1. Amend 10-28-017 Public way use permit—Fees.
(a) (1) No fee shall be charged for a public way use that is on or above the public way for the following: (i) In the case of a residential building, as that term is defined in Section 17-17-02146. constructed in or before 1922, a public way use that is part of the original construction and is a permanent structure of the build...
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