OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
CITY OF CHICAGO
LORI E. LIGHTFOOT
MAYOR
December 18, 2019
TO THE HONORABLE, THE CI TY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO
Ladies and Gentlemen:
At the request of the Commissioner of Planning and Development, I transmit herewith ordinances authorizing the expenditure of Open Space Impact Fee funds.
Mayor
Your favorable consideration of these ordinances will be appreciated.
ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago (the "City") is a home rule unit of government under Article VII, Section 6(a) of the Constitution of the State of Illinois, and as such may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs; and
WHEREAS, the City is authorized under its home rule powers to regulate the use and development of land; and
WHEREAS, it is a reasonable condition of development approval to ensure that adequate open space and recreational facilities exist within the City; and
WHEREAS, on April 1, 1998, the City Council ofthe City (the "City Council") adopted the Open Space Impact Fee Ordinance codified at Chapter 18 of Title 16 (the "Open Space Ordinance") of the Municipal Code of Chicago (the "Code") to address the need for additional public space and recreational facilities for the benefit of the residents of newly created residential developments in the City; and
WHEREAS, the Open Space Ordinance authorizes, among other things, the collection of fees from residential developments that create new dwelling units without contributing a proportionate share of open space and recreational facilities for the benefit of their residents as part of the overall development (the "Fee-Paying Developments"); and
WHEREAS, pursuant to the Open Space Ordinance, the City's Department of Finance ("DOF") has collected fees derived from the Fee-Paying Developments (the "Open Space Fees") and has deposited those fees in separate funds, each fund corresponding to the Community Area (as defined in the Open Space Ordinance) in which each of the Fee-Paying Developments is located and from which the Open Space Fees were collected; and
WHEREAS, the City's Department of Planning and Development ("DPD") has determined that the Fee-Paying Developments built in the Bridgeport Community Area have deepened the already significant deficit of open space in the Bridgeport Community Area, which deficit was documented in the comprehensive plan entitled "The CitySpace Plan", adopted by the Chicago Plan Commission on September 11, 1997 and adopted by the City Council on May 20, 1998 and appearing on pages 69309-69311 of the Journal of the Proceedings of the City Council of the same date; and
WHEREAS, the City's Department of Transportation ("CDOT") has proposed to create open spaces and recreational facilities in the Bridgeport Community Area through the development of a Feasibility and Implementation Plan for improved pedestrian and bike access between Bridgeport and the Lower West Side and to the three public parks along the South Branch of the Chicago River as listed on Exhibit A (the "Project"); and
WHEREAS, the Open Space Ordinance requires that the Open Space Fees be used for open space acquisition or capital improvements, or both, which provide a direct and material benefit to the new development from which the Open Space Fees are collected; and
WHEREAS, the Open Space Ordinance requires that the Open Space Fees be
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expended within the same or a contiguous Community Area from which they were collected after a legislative finding by the City Council that the expenditure of the Open Space Fees will directly and materially benefit the developments from which the Open Space Fees were collected; and
WHEREAS, CDOT has agreed to use the Open Space Fees, in the amount set forth on Exhibit A for the Project; and
WHEREAS, DPD has determined that the use of the Open Space Fees to assist the Project will provide a direct and material benefit to each of the Fee-Paying Developments from which the Open Space Fees were collected in that the Open Space Fees used for the Project will come from the specific funds set up by DOF for the corresponding Community Areas in which a Fee-Paying Development is located and from which the Open Space Fees were collected; and
WHEREAS, DPD has recommended that the City Council approve the use of the Open Space Fees for the purposes set forth on Exhibit A through this ordinance; and
WHEREAS, DPD has recommended that the City Council make a finding that the expenditure of the Open Space Fees as described herein will directly and materially benefit the Fee-Paying Developments from which the Open Space Fees were collected; now, therefore,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO:
SECTION 1. The above recitals are expressly incorporated in and made part of this ordinance as though fully set forth herein.
SECTION 2. The City Council hereby finds that the expenditure of the Open Space Fees, as proposed on Exhibit A, will directly and materially benefit the residents of those Fee-Paying Developments from which the Open Space Fees were collected and approves the use of the Open Space Fees for the purposes set forth on Exhibit A.
SECTION 3. Open Space Fees in an amount not to exceed $40,000 from the Bridgeport Community Area are hereby appropriated to CDOT for the Project.
SECTION 4. To the extent that any ordinance, resolution, rule, order or provision ofthe Code, or part thereof, is in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance, the provisions of this ordinance shall control. If any section, paragraph, clause or provision of this ordinance shall be held invalid, the invalidity of such section, paragraph, clause or provision shall not affect any other provisions of this ordinance.
SECTION 5. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after the date of its passage and approval.
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Department of Transportation Project Address:
Community Areas: Project Description:
EXHIBIT A Description of Project
South Branch River Parks Access Study
South Branch of the Chicago River, Bubbly Creek in Bridgeport
Bridgeport
Feasibility and Implementation Plan for South Branch River Parks for pedestrian and bike access between Bridgeport and the Lower West Side community area and to the three public parks along the South Branch ofthe Chicago River.
Amount of Open Space Fees:
$40,000 from the Bridgeport Community Area
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