Elgin researching limits on nonprofits downtown

An idea to create zoning that would discourage more nonprofits from setting up shop in downtown Elgin is eliciting mixed reactions.

Councilwoman Carol Rauschenberger says downtown needs more retail, restaurants and entertainment and that zoning changes could help foster that. Mayor David Kaptain, on the other hand, vehemently opposes placing limits on nonprofits and called the proposal "very dangerous."

The city's legal department is researching the issue at the direction of some city council members.

Such zoning could be a tool to bring back vibrancy to downtown, and any changes would affect only four or five square blocks, said Rauschenberger, who brought up the issue at a recent election forum.

"We need to have vision of downtown to be a business and art center, and not a row of nonprofits," she said. "In the middle of downtown, some of our best storefronts are nonprofits, even though there is plenty of space for them (elsewhere)."

Councilwoman Rose Martinez said it's mostly about "prime spots" on the first floor of buildings. "I think the city needs to help nonprofits, they do so much good," she said, "but I don't want to fill (downtown) up with them."

But Kaptain said nonprofits generally improve their surrounding area.

"I am going to be withering in my opposition to that," he said. "Zoning more favorable to businesses coming in is one thing. To restrict people from coming in, that's a totally different thing. If people think nonprofits are taking valuable commercial space, I am not seeing it."

Downtown nonprofits include Senior Services Associates, the YWCA, the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce, Habitat for Humanity of Northern Fox Valley and Centro de Informacion. There are several churches, but the only "storefront" church is Discovery Church, located in a former eatery.

City staff members are researching "lawful mechanisms ... to try to maintain a commercial environment in the core of downtown," Corporation Counsel Bill Cogley said.

There are special considerations regarding churches, which are federally protected from "undue burden" within zoning regulations, he said. Churches in downtown Elgin require a conditional use permit, while nonprofits need such permits based on their use of space, such as office versus assembly.

One legal precedent, Cogley said, is a 2010 court decision in favor of the village of Hazel Crest, whose commercial district zoning ordinance was upheld by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals after a lawsuit filed by River of Life Kingdom Ministries, which wanted to move there.

Erin Rehberg, co-founder of the downtown nonprofit Side Street Studio Arts, said it's important to allow social services and other nonprofits to be centrally located and easily accessible.

"Nonprofits bring people and creative programming in a variety of ways. More of this, retail, and restaurants would and will be good for all," she said. "The more, the merrier."

But Bette Schoenholtz, executive director of Senior Services, said she's OK with placing limits on nonprofits downtown.

"If (the building) had an elevator and it was handicapped-accessible, I would not have a problem with being told I could only be on the second floor," she said.

What's more important is that the city foster an economically viable climate for new businesses, Schoenholtz said.

City officials are hopeful that the conversion into apartments of the Tower Building, whose opening is anticipated for the fall, will bring more residents downtown.

Downtown zoning proposals might be finalized within the next couple of months, and moving forward would entail a public hearing, as well as discussion by the planning and zoning commission and the city council, Cogley said.

Karin Jones, of Kirkpatrick, Jones & Herzog Insurance Agency downtown, said she trusts the city will proceed carefully.

"I think the concept in general is really good," she said. "But it is sensitive."