Lisle trustees override mayor's veto of planned incentives for downtown project

Lisle trustees voted Monday to override Mayor Chris Pecak's veto of a plan to provide economic incentives to encourage the redevelopment of a vacant shopping center in the village's downtown.

The 4-2 vote came two weeks after Pecak sought to block the village board's Jan. 31 decision to offer up to $10.5 million in tax increment financing funds to assist Flaherty & Collins. For years, the Indianapolis-based developer has expressed an interest in building a mixed-use retail and apartment complex to replace Family Square Plaza at the southeast corner of Ogden Avenue and Main Street.

Trustees Thomas Duffy, Mary Jo Mullen, Sara Sadat and Stephen Winz comprised the two-thirds majority needed to override the mayor's veto. Trustees Cathy Cawiezel and Dan Grecco voted in opposition.

Before the vote, proponents of the redevelopment were brief with their comments. Opponents reiterated several of their previous concerns.

Cawiezel expressed reservations about having so many residential units located in what has been historically a commercially zoned area. Pecak said he had heard from other developers interested in the property after his Feb. 7 veto.

"I don't think we vetted it enough," Grecco said before the vote. "Moving forward, I do wish this development success. I just don't think we have any teeth in the agreement."

Family Square Plaza is in Lisle's Downtown TIF District, which was established in 2015 to spur redevelopment. In a TIF district, property taxes paid to local governments are frozen for up to 23 years, and any extra property tax money collected within the area goes into a special fund to help pay for certain improvements.

But a TIF district could be closed if a redevelopment project is not authorized within its first seven years. And Lisle was facing a deadline of March 2 for its downtown TIF.

"I really hope that we can move forward more collaboratively, find ways to get together and agree on things in a more timely manner than for it to come down to this in the future," Mullen said.

The TIF incentive plan for Flaherty & Collins states that Lisle is not to issue debt or bonds for the Family Square redevelopment. Instead, the village would commit to providing the TIF money to the developer as they are generated and on a "pay-as-you-go" basis, as the project meets occupancy and construction milestones.

The most current Flaherty & Collins design proposal for Family Square calls for more than 37,000 square feet of retail space and 176 apartment units. The complex also would feature a multistory garage with 554 parking spaces, including 90 first-floor spots dedicated to downtown shoppers.