Elgin looks to buy Chicago Street Metra station plan

Elgin City Council members gave preliminary approval Wednesday night to spend $20,000 to develop a plan for the area surrounding the Chicago Street Metra station.

The plan itself will cost $100,000, but the Regional Transportation Authority is covering the majority of the cost.

“With development pressure being off, it's a good opportunity for us to establish the vision that we have for this area,” said Councilwoman Anna Moeller.

The city council gave staff members permission to apply for the funds from the Subregional Planning Program through the RTA in February, committing to paying Elgin's share if the money was received.

The plan will be similar to one completed by Land Vision Inc. for the area surrounding the National Street station and presented to council members at the Aug. 24 meeting. Land Vision will work on the Chicago Street station area as well.

The plans are meant to guide development, whenever it comes. Assistant City Manager Rick Kozal said many of the elements of the plan will probably not be implemented for many years. But the goal is to stay ahead of development.

“If the economy changes and there's an attractiveness to begin redeveloping the property, we want a plan in place,” Kozal said.

The plan is expected to take about a year to finish, with input from community members, businesses and city officials throughout the process. An official steering committee composed of all of those stakeholders will also help guide the process, keeping in mind the needs of all forms of traffic — foot, train, car, bike or bus.

According to a memo to council members describing the project, “the target site has the potential to become an active, transit-oriented community, linking neighborhoods, natural resources and recreational land uses.”

Though the time frame for that end goal is unknown, the city and council continue to move forward with at least a plan for what the end result should look like.