Elburn kicking around parking lot purchase

The village of Elburn is investigating whether to buy the Community Congregational Church parking lot on Main Street downtown, perhaps paying for it through a special tax assessment on downtown properties.

The village board Monday gave the village administrator permission to research that option.

In February, the church announced it would close the lot on the southeast corner of Main and Shannon streets to the public on March 15. Village Administrator Erin Willrett, who is working with downtown business owners on the issue, persuaded the church’s council to postpone that. Now, people have until April 15, and may have even longer if Willrett can demonstrate the village is working in good faith on a solution.

The lot is used by employees and patrons of downtown businesses. Business owners packed a February board meeting to plead with the village to save the 40 spots, saying there weren’t enough parking spaces on Main to accommodate both patrons and employees. At that time, Village President Dave Anderson told them the village could not afford to buy the lot with the cash it has on hand, and that he didn’t think all the taxpayers should pay for it.

Willrett has met with business owners since then; many, she told the board Monday, said they could not afford a special tax assessment. If the village were to borrow money without the special assessment, it would have to ask taxpayers for permission, through a referendum. Board members don’t think voters would approve. In the March 20 primary, voters rejected a request to establish a tax to fund the village contribution to the police pension fund.

But if the village borrowed money and collected money for repayment through a special-service area assessment, it would not need to hold a referendum. Establishing a special-service area would require a public hearing, and it could be killed if 51 percent of the property owners and 51 percent of the registered voters in the proposed area object to it.

Willrett is meeting with the village’s attorney to review how an SSA could be set up, and will meet again with business owners. No boundaries have been determined, and the village board has not authorized an appraisal of the lot.

The church put the lot up for sale in September 2011. It first offered it to the village for $250,000, but the village declined.

The church has allowed the public to park in the lot for more than a decade. But it no longer wants to pay for its maintenance and insurance, and could use money from the sale to shore up its finances, according to the church’s moderator. The council also thought the lot would look more attractive to potential buyers if it wasn’t full of cars.

The congregation’s membership has declined to fewer than 100 people, and about 45 worship there each weekend. Parishioners park in another lot.