March 17, 2009
Daily Illini
dailyillini.com
Urbana City Council needs more time deciding lighting ordinances
The Urbana City Council sent an ordinance to the Committee of the Whole on Monday night after agreeing that the council needed more time to discuss the proposal reinforcing regulations on street, commercial, and private lighting.
Urbana Planner Jeff Engstrom sought approval of his plan to mandate reasonable standards on lighting that would not only prevent glare and sky glow but reduce energy consumption, too.
The lighting regulations were meant to address safety and nuisance issues among residents. Engstrom mentioned that the Village of Homer Glen, Illinois, and the cities of Champaign, Normal, Peoria and Springfield. adopted outdoor lighting guidelines in their respective districts.
Ward 7 Alderwoman Lynne Barnes expressed concern over Engstrom’s goal to reduce the canopy lighting at gas stations from the average 32 footcandles to 15 footcandles. Each footcandle is equivalent to the intensity of light produced by 1 candle from 1 foot away.
“The lighting you recommended was 15 [footcandles], but the average is 32,” Barnes said. “Do you feel comfortable with the safety related to that? That’s not accounting for women who are gassing their cars at 10 at night. I know when I’m driving and looking for a gas station, I’m going to end up going where it is brightest. I’m going to care about perception.”
Engstrom said that the gas canopies in Normal, Illinois, are 32 footcandles, but the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America recommended a limit of 10 footcandles. He suggested 15 because it was close to the median.
Some of the other areas that the outdoor lighting ordinance specified is reducing light trespass and improving uniformity in lighting.
“Someone’s light [may be] shining in your bedroom window,” Engstrom said. “We hope to reign in with a lighting ordinance proposed.”
He added that uneven lighting can reduce a person’s vision.
“Lighting uniformity is important,” he said. “Having multiple light sources. Even lighting produces more secure environments.”
Engstrom said the current street lighting make it difficult to illuminate space directly under the light poles and darkness quickly looms over areas that are a short distance away.
The plan would use a two-tier system, where single families and duplexes are only required to reduce glare and nuisance, whereas other properties are required to meet all areas proposed by the outdoor lighting ordinance.
Ward 3 Alderman Robert Lewis pointed out that the two major concerns should be lighting context and energy efficiency.
“We [should] move towards an ordinance that provides sufficient and proper lighting,” said Ward 1 Alderman Charlie Smyth. “Overlighting results in uplight into the atmosphere.”
If approved, Engstrom plans to see the ordinance put into effect starting July 1, 2009.
March 30, 2009
Daily Illini
dailyillini.com
Sales tax increase to appear on April ballot, fund 14 school districts
A referendum proposing a 1 percent sales tax increase in Champaign County will be on ballots in the county’s April elections.
The referendum, if passed by a majority, will help fund the maintenance of 14 public school districts in Champaign County.
Urbana School District 116 plans to improve the building quality and develop programs for children with the additional funding, said Brenda Carter, Urbana School District Board of Education member.
“If this passes, our main goal is to update the schools and make them energy efficient,” Carter said.
“We’ll look at allocating Early Childhood Programs. We would provide a place for these [centers]. These are for children ages three to five who go to the Urbana School District.”
Fifty percent of Urbana School District’s budget originates from property taxes, said Mark Netter, president of the Board of Education.
Under the County School Facility Occupation Tax Law, school districts can now ask residents to provide funding through a sales tax increase.
Netter said the facilities must be near the brink of deterioration in order to receive funding from property tax increases.
Chris Kaler, member of Citizens Looking at Supporting Schools, said a sales tax increase would allow more citizens to participate in funding public services such as schools, park districts and libraries.
“This is a tax spread across all users,” Kaler said. “Everyone is more involved in paying this. We’re trying to spread more tax liability over a broader base. Hopefully more people will be able to contribute.”
However, some residents are hesitant to support this sales tax increase, as the bill was defeated on the November 2008 ballot.
“The taxpayers rejected this 1 percent tax already,” said Urbana resident E. Wayne Johnson.
“The economy has not improved. I find it to be somewhat deceitful and dishonest, maybe even dishonorable that the school boards are coming at us again, and at a low turnout municipal election where voter turnout is likely to be low, hoping that the ‘no’ votes will not turn out for this minor election.”
Johnson, a parent of four, said two of his oldest children attend King School in Urbana. He finds no problem with the education his sons are receiving.
“I am personally opposed to the 1 percent sales tax increase at this time because of the uncertain economic conditions, and because of the absence of a sunset provision whereby the tax increase ends,” Johnson said.
He said a sales tax increase is not an urgent need for school districts. He added that the school system’s plans to spend the money are ambiguous.
“We are not in an emergency situation,” Johnson said. “Let’s have the school systems put their houses in order, provide more information to the public about how the money is being spent… and then present a more reasonable plan than the one offered.”
If the bill passes, the sales tax will apply to retail items. It will not affect purchases at grocery stores, prescription medications, farm equipment or anything associated with a home, car, boat or trailer.
Currently, the public school districts are home-ruled and cannot override the tax cap that limits the local governments’ ability to generate funding, said Ward 1 Alderman Charlie Smyth.
April 17, 2009
Daily Illini
dailyillini.com
Urbana grants fee waivers
At the Urbana City Council meeting Monday night, the council decided to include two more Urbana rental properties that will qualify for registration fee waivers. Rental property owners who house disabled individuals under Medicaid and the Illinois Department of Human Services will receive a $45 fee waiver annually.
At the Urbana City Council meeting Monday night, the council decided to include two more Urbana rental properties that will qualify for registration fee waivers. Rental property owners who house disabled individuals under Medicaid and the Illinois Department of Human Services will receive a $45 fee waiver annually. These government subsidized housing projects for seniors, people with disabilities, low-income families and homeless individuals.
The city will absorb the rental registration fee, which covers the maintenance and inspection of apartment buildings.
“The council voted to waive rental registration fees for government-run housing,” said Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing. “We charged a rental registration fee for the inspection of [rental property], but we waived it for low-income [housing units].”
The council suggested that they should be eligible for fee waivers.
“We didn’t think it was fair for [these] subsidized housing [units] to pay because they’re not income generating,” said Libby Tyler, Urbana director of community development.
Some property owners disagreed with the council and said the fee waivers would encourage jobless people to stay unemployed.
Gabe Omo-Osagie, owner of Gabe’s Place, said the city of Urbana allows all people to rent property, despite their criminal background. Out of Omo-Osagie’s 12 rental properties in Urbana, three individuals receive assistance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
“We have a few people off campus that receive money from HUD,” Omo-Osagie said. “These are people who qualify under Section 8. We’ve never received a fee waiver.”
Section 8 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 authorizes rental voucher programs, which helps very low-income families pay for affordable housing.
“HUD started with the War on Poverty, where the government tried to help single women with children,” he added. “In putting together people who don’t work (in Chicago), there were crimes, drugs and gangs. It’s almost the same thing here. If you put together too many Section 8 people, you get the same types of [problems].”
In the city of Urbana, there are about four to five HUD-funded, low-income housing units, said Gordon Skinner, Urbana building safety division manager. A rental property owner pays anywhere between $40 to $50 for rental registration, depending on whether the building is a single-family or duplex, Tyler said.
Part of maintaining the quality and cleanliness of rental property is to conduct building inspections regularly. However, since there are several registered rental properties in Urbana, it takes about three to five years for the city to inspect every building, Skinner said.
“The fee waiver covers the annual fee,” Skinner said. “We still do inspections of building for safety.”
He said Urbana’s rental registration fee waiver program will set a precedent for other government subsidized housing units that may need assistance in the future, Skinner added.
“We just added Medicaid and the Illinois Department of Human Services, so we didn’t leave anyone out,” Skinner said. “There could be more [housing units] that qualify for the fee waivers in the future.”