Kudos to the Chamber of Commerce and our new mayor for hosting a discussion with local residential and commercial developers in Champaign County on Wednesday morning.  In all honesty, I expected a weak turnout, deaf ears, and questioned whether or not it was worth my time to attend.  However, I chose to attend and visited the new Chamber office at 7:00am yesterday morning in order to give our new mayor a chance.  I had never met Mr. Don Gerard and admittedly had voted against him in the recent mayoral election (no offense Don).  I left the roundtable with a positive attitude and the willingness to give the new guy a chance.

Here’s how it went down:

Introduction
Roughly twenty prominent business people attended the early morning session including local developers, business owners, and local stakeholders.  The event was informal with the mayor given the first opportunity to address the audience and explain that he had called the meeting in order to get feedback from the development community to learn about local issues that affect “us”.  Mr. Gerard started off the discussion by expressing his interest in listening to new ideas; whether it be exploring a minor league ballpark (of personal interest to him), how to improve Willard Airport, or sparking new development in the midtown district.

Downtown/Midtown Redevelopment
The mayor mentioned conversations with new grad students in the area who explained that they quickly chosen a place to live in Champaign County with very little direction from the university, and many times signed leases for cheap housing in outlying areas.  Mayor Gerard told the audience that he would like that to change and asked how we could bring more grad students and young professionals into the city core.  A couple of local apartment developers expressed their opinions and I chimed in about my interest in a city incentive to help develop mid-range affordable housing in downtown Champaign.

I cited an example of a client with an under-utilized office building downtown who was interested in converting one floor to apartments.  Local demand is dictating that grad students, young professionals, and others in the 22 to 30 year age group are interested in living downtown, but that the area lacks sufficient and affordable apartments.  However, as I pointed out, historic preservation, local regulations, remodeling costs, and insufficient parking create challenges for landlords like mine to develop affordable urban housing.  If a person is under the retirement age and lacks the resources to afford a $300,000 condo, chances are slim that one can snatch up a decent apartment downtown.  To my surprise, Mayor Gerard expressed his interest in discussing a solution and suggested a meeting with me and my client to listen to our suggestions.

Storm Water Utility Fee
Next, the topic of the proposed storm water utility fee was brought up.  The mayor considers the new fee to be “an investment” in our city infrastructure and believes that it is critical to maintain our infrastructure in order to compete with other cities in the region.  The local business community expressed their concerns and cited an example of a local business that would expect a $40,000 annual increase in costs due to the proposed fees.  Most agreed that the hardship for local companies would hurt business and likely result in layoffs or scare new potential businesses from the area.  A local residential developer expressed his concern over the rising cost of developing subdivisions; a cost that is ultimately passed onto the consumer with higher residential lot prices.

Fringe Development
Although the concepts of urban infill, redevelopment, and gentrification are clearly a positive direction for the city, some developers expressed concern over the increased regulations and bureaucracy for fringe development.  A vibrant downtown is important for our community, but job growth in the industrial and office sectors is arguably more important in today’s economic conditions.  Attendees (myself included) complained about city staff’s lack of attention to market demand and their self-imposed regulations for what THEY believe to be what the residents of Champaign want or need.  One prominent businessperson even suggested a significant reduction in city staff in which the Mayor replied “I don’t disagree with you.”  It is my personal opinion that city staff currently has more control over future development than do the residents of the city.

Major Points of Emphasis
The most encouraging points that I took away from Wednesday’s discussion with the Mayor are as follows:

1. Mayor Gerard wants to be a voice for the people of Champaign.  In other words, he wants his role to be more than a “ceremonial position” and would like to evolve city government into a “service provider for the people” rather than a dictator of the status quo.
2. He would like to let developments be “driven by market demand”.  Amen, Mr. Mayor…that is the way the founders of our fine city intended.

We cannot continue to operate in the same fashion as a city in the 49^th best state to do business and expect to succeed.  Success in our area must be driven by the brilliance and entrepreneurial leadership of its citizens and not dictated by its elected officials.  The city of Champaign and the County as a whole must stand out as an oasis of positive business opportunity in order to be successful in the future.

Mayor Gerard has said the right things, expressed his love for his community, and made his intentions clear.  The question is, can he follow through and make a difference?  Can we overcome the over-regulations from the federal and state level and stand out as a positive example of job growth, ingenuity, and community pride; or will we fall into the same trap that the rest of our state and much of our country is falling victim to?  Only time will tell, and the clock is running.