MEMORANDUM

To: Mayor Rahm Emanuel, City of Chicago Mr. Terry Peterson, Chairman, Chicago Transit Authority Mr. Forest Claypool, President, Chicago Transit Authority West Chesterfield Community Association Contact: Mr. Michael LaFargue, President March 10, 2014

From: Date: Subject:

COPY

Recommendations for the 95th Street CTA Terminal Project, Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and A Proposed Community Benefits Agreement for 95th Street Redevelopment

This memorandum serves as a basis for the West Chesterfield Community Association to express its intent to provide input and enter into a written Community Benefits Agreement with the City of Chicago, Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago Park District, General Contractor for the redevelopment of the 95th Street Transit Terminal and the Selected Developer for the anticipated Transit Oriented Development (TOD) at 95th & State post terminal construction. West Chesterfield Community Association, Inc. (WCCA), organized in 1956, is a State of Illinois nonprofit Organization. Its purpose is to encourage community awareness, and involvement thus offering potential solutions to identified community problems/concerns. WCCA is bound by the B & O Railroad tracks on the north, 95th Street on the south, State Street on the west, and the west side of King Drive on the east, within the City of Chicago. The Associations boundary is considered to be a historically Africa -American community. For more than a year, the proposed 95th Street Terminal and future TOD at 95th street has been part of WCCAs ongoing agenda. A list of WCCA community engagement activities related to the 95th Transit Terminal Project is attached. (See Appendix A) Per our letter to Mr. Raymond H. LaHood, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, (See Appendix B) WCCA sees great potential in the 95th Street Terminal Project and a properly designed Transportation Orientated Development project. The community envisions 95th Street as a Preferred Point of Destination (PPOD). A PPOD exemplifies a place that is clean, safe and secure. A place homeowners consider a Great Place to Live and Raise a Family. It is an area where no schools are on probation, anchored by a college, a fine park and retail conveniences. This could be 95th and State Street. Since September 2012 area residents have participated in three (3) community surveys regarding the planned redevelopment. The community has strong ideas and beliefs that will benefit the Chicago Transit Authority, City of Chicago, the future TOD developer and adjacent communities. WCCAs survey results are available. (See Appendix C)

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CTA will benefit from increased ridership. Local governments will benefit from increased sales taxes, higher real estate valuations, increased transfer fees due to an increased demand for area real estate and a reduction in the cost of crime. The developer will benefit by operating in a community that has a plan that ensures leased space demand, tenant retention and consumer activity. Community benefits are outlined in later paragraphs. WCCA expects to develop a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) between the City of Chicago, Chicago Transit Authority and the selected Developer. It is WCCAs goal that through a CBA the TOD will benefit the community in terms of quality of life, use, aesthetics, safety, security, cleanliness and integration into the community meeting short term and in the long term expectations. The development must 1.) Stabilize and/or contribute to the improvement of real estate values 2.) Have a positive impact on the environment 3.) Promote economic revitalization and 4.) Support local minority owned businesses and local hires of workers including youth. For years WCCA members have been engaged in the Developing Communities Project s (DCP) dialogue about the Red Line Extension to the 130th Street Riverdale area. For more than a year we have attended DCP meetings related to the 95th Street Terminal Project and area TOD. In 2012, WCCA testified in front of the CTA Board of Directors (See Appendix D). WCCA has attended CTA Community Hearings, had CTA as a guest at a community meeting and has hosted a town hall meeting on this topic. Currently the WCCA participates in leadership roles with the 95th Street Terminal Panel of Development (POD) organized by the Development Communities Project (DCP). WCCA has been engaged. To this end - West Chesterfield requests input on any proposed Transit Oriented Development within the boundary of the West Chesterfield Community Association. Our initial recommendations and expectations are as follows: NOTE: Because initial development will affect the Southwest corner of West Chesterfield first, WCCA prepared this document. Our recommendations to date are not to be considered complete or final. WCCA will continue seeking input. As we have moved forward, information has been shared in varying degrees about our processes and thoughts with the Roseland Heights Community Association, the 95th Street Panel of Development (POD), the Developing Communities Project, St. James AME Church in Lilydale, some public officials and to some degree Chicago State University (CSU). This is our first formal document. We expect it to inspire a more intense dialog between all interested parties along the 95th Street corridor because of the great potential for east and west Transit Oriented Development along 95th Street. We encourage all leadership along the 95th Street corridor from CSU to block clubs, to councils, associations, churches, businesses etc. to engage in the process initiated the Developing Communities Project 773.928.2500 and its 95th St. Panel of Development.

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RECOMMENDATIONS
PRE-CONSTRUCTION PHASE Pre-construction - Erect a heavy gage eight-foot (8) high cycle fence with a heavy duty construction tarp to minimize noise, dust and air pollution. The construction staging area must be kept clean and organized with dust being watered down thus causing little to no interference to the community in terms of environmental, visual and after hour noise. Plan, with community representatives, to develop a grassed arboretum type of green space, once construction is complete in the former staging area that will become the future TOD site. Maintain the arboretum utilizing local contractors until all lots are sold for business development. Establish a committee of predominantly community members and CTA representatives to develop the process and criteria for deciding who purchases or what businesses will operate on the former staging site which is now the interim arboretum. TERMINAL REDEVELOPMENT Publish the project timeline with key dates, i.e.; RFP, RFQ, RFI & Small Order Bids. Award Dates, Construction Starts and Finish, etc. Develop and design terminal with safety, security, and cleanliness; including some community participation that will benefit property values. Add overhead pedestrian walkways to the northern end of the station to cross over State Street and Lafayette Street for people access and egress the station safely. (Note: Pedestrians currently cross in the middle of the State and Lafayette Streets causing unsafe conditions for vehicles and pedestrians. A solution is needed). Add a DIVVY bike station at the 95th street Terminal and Chicago State University. Possible extension to Pullman National Park, Obama Library etc. Build high speed broadband infrastructure and include a free wireless network that is accessibility to neighboring underserved and low income communities, i.e. connectivity that is accessible at least within a 1 mile radius which would include The CHA Lowden Homes Development, area CPS Schools, and the Lilydale, Roseland Heights, and Vernon Park areas Washington Height communities. Secure/lease land from the Chicago Park District (currently an unused tennis court) on the southeast corner of 95th Street to locate Park and Ride which would minimize the environmental impact on neighboring residents and decrease the number of properties that would need to be acquired by the City of Chicago via eminent domain (See Appendix E). Note: The Park District, Friends of the Parks and area residents must agree to this idea. Further, there may be more ideal locations for a park and ride west of the Dan Ryan Expressway. Install public art that is reflective of the community area. Consider giving the station/platform /station areas a honorary name or names of prominent locals. The late Appellate Court Judge Eugene Pincham, an activist attorney and terminal improvement advocate; Mr. Ed Gardner Founder of Soft Sheen Products both are area residents that come to mind. Or name the 3|Page

station/platform/station areas in the name of an institution as Chicago State University. A survey of neighboring communities is suggested for input. Contract with local law enforcement (Chicago, Cook County and Illinois State Police) to erect and man a 24-hour police sub-station at 95th (or 94th) and State Street. The sub-station could be a tower co-located with a pedestrian walkway/crosswalk. Contract with local contractors to keep the area clean in and around the station and arboretum. Provide toilet facilities on the aforementioned property. Schedule meetings before and after each stage of completion. Ensure that the WCCA has a responsible CTA Liaison.

MINORITY AND LOCAL SMALL BUSINESS HIRING Meet or exceed City of Chicago MBE/DBE/WBE/SDVOSBC (Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concerns) Break large contracts down into smaller contracts. Notify local contracting organizations of contracting opportunities. Publish the project timeline with key dates, i.e. RFB notifications, Award Dates, Construction Starts and Finish, etc. RFQ for Businesses Include suppliers, service providers and professional services in all public bid notifications, i.e. civil engineers, surveyors, movers, janitorial service, electrical supply, glass supply, etc. TARGETED HIRING PROGRAM AND LIVING WAGE Establish a local 1 mile radius employee hire goal of 50% or more of residents or CSU Students or Harlan High School students from surrounding communities. Work with local workforce agencies to identify qualified local residents for hire. Link potential workers, i.e. tradesman and laborer to contractors and subcontractors, and professional service providers contracted by CTA on the redevelopment of the 95th street station. Effort to bring community members into established union apprenticeship programs, including funding for pre-apprenticeship programs. Target and establish goals for hiring area youth/young adults between the ages of 16 and 24. Create additional incentives for employers who provide pay a Living Wage, i.e. additional points given in the selection process/scoring. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES West Chesterfield believes the 95th CTA Station Redevelopment and future development should be as green and sustainable as possible. Pervious Concrete Pavement http://www.perviouspavement.org/. Pervious concrete pavement is a unique and effective means to address important environmental issues, and support green, sustainable growth. By capturing storm water and allowing it to seep into the ground, porous concrete is instrumental in recharging groundwater, reducing storm water runoff, and meeting U.S. 4|Page

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) storm water regulations. In fact, the use of pervious concrete is among the Best Management Practices (BMPs) recommended by the EPAand by other agencies and geotechnical engineers across the countryfor the management of storm water runoff on a regional and local basis. This pavement technology creates more efficient land use by eliminating the need for retention ponds, swales, and other storm water management procedures. In doing so, pervious concrete has the ability to lower overall project costs on a first-cost basis. Solar Heated Side Walk, Parking Lots and Roads. To eliminate the cost and noise of pushing snow, the parking lot can be heated by solar panel cable, heated antifreeze tubes or the technology described at http://cleantechnica.com/2011/08/17/solar-roadways-the-company-to-build-solarpanel-parking-lot-top-transportation-stories/. Solar roads have been a dream of countless clean tech lovers for a while now; and, theres actually a company with the name Solar Roadways. Environmentalists have written about the potential of solar roads and solar bike lanes a number of times over the years, but theres news out now that Solar Roadways has received a $750,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration to build a parking lot in Idaho paved with solar panels, the most practical application of the idea heard, by this writer, of in the U.S. *Read more at http://cleantechnica.com/2011/08/17/solar-roadways-the-company-to-build-solarpanel-parking-lot-top-transportation-stories/#xAcPsDl7EAMhJ85m.99 Energy Efficient Lighting for Parking Lots http://www.enviroasis.com/parking-lots/. Parking Lots are an excellent candidate for Energy Efficient upgrades, primarily because most new technologies are designed to last 50,000 hours (LED) to 100,000 hours (Induction), effectively eliminating the amount of labor required to service the lighting systems. Thus there are tremendous maintenance savings to be achieved in retrofitting or replacing Parking Garage lights. Additionally, Parking Lots typically use older, inefficient Metal Halide or High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lamps where light levels have depreciated significantly and visible light levels have dropped below minimum acceptable levels. Immediate benefits with fast paybacks include but are not limited to: energy savings of 50% or more; high quality light output; reduced maintenance operation; and sensors/controls for dimming and further energy savings. Self-Cleaning Public Rest Rooms Our community has a problem with public urination. There are no rest rooms for people in or around the transit terminal. To remedy this problem, we suggest public urinals be made available to the public. Milan, Italy There is a revolutionary new urinal on the market from Italian-based designer Young Sang Eun that doubles as a toilet with the push of a button, according to Dvice.com, it is considered the Ultimate Clean Toilet. It is self-cleaning thanks to a built-in 5|Page

ultraviolet (UV) light system and steam that sterilizes the unit after each use, the story stated. Other IDEAS for A Park and Ride - Station WCCA conducted three community (3) surveys. The September 2012 survey revealed that a mixed use park and ride with a day care/office space /coffee shop on the north side of 95th street may be acceptable. The September 2013 survey revealed a park and ride situated on the northwest side of Abbott Park may be acceptable. Either would include a pedestrian bridge over State Street to the Terminal. (See Survey Results Appendix C) The following environmentally positive suggestions should also be considered. Recycled Glass Epoxy Flooring http://www.everlastepoxy.com/recycled_glass_epoxy_flooring.html EVERLAST Flooring and/or EVERLAST Epoxy Eco Flooring are the environmentally friendly solutions for facilities, in that, it is made from recycled glass bottles and a recycled content certificate can be provided for LEED projects. Everlast Eco Epoxy floor has the same properties as Everlast Floors. The only difference in their formulation is recycled glass bottle chips being replaced with marble chips. The resin is identical, for durable and attractive floors.

Photovoltaic Solar Cells that Turn Windows into a type of Solar Panel
UCLA researchers have developed a new transparent solar cell advancement toward giving windows in homes and other buildings the ability to generate electricity while still allowing people to see outside. Their study appears in the journal - ACS Nano. The UCLA team describes a new kind of polymer solar cell (PSC) that produces energy by absorbing mainly infrared light, not visible light, making the cells nearly 70% transparent to the human eye. They made a device from a photoactive plastic that converts infrared light into an electrical current. "These results open the potential for visibly transparent polymer solar cells as add-on components of portable electronics, smart windows and buildingintegrated photovoltaic and in other applications," said study leader Yang, a UCLA professor of materials science and engineering, and director of the Nano Renewable Energy Center at California Nano Systems Institute.

POST-CONSTRUCITON OF 95TH STREET STATION Form a community Advisory Committee to participate in the planning and selection of a Master Developer for the 95th Street Transit Oriented Development. Create an attractive development TOD which is based on a CTA/CDOT/IDOT/ maybe USDOT Traffic Studies. TOD where the land at 95th at State St. zoned as C1-1, B3-1 and RS-3 will be rezoned as a PUD immediately so the community benefits by negotiating a CBA with one developer. (See Appendix F)

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Ensure fifty-eight percent (58%) leased space is set aside for African Americans; 25% for locally owned retail and small professional service businesses; and 33% retailers and professional service businesses. If requested, allow the existing Learn Together Grow Together Child Development Center located at 9415 S. State Street to return to the redeveloped site. Explore methods to apply the living wage provision to all businesses located within the redevelopment. Include a developer/property manager that cleans/ maintains its fronts, walkways, curbs, and alleys daily. Include a developer that abides by lease restrictions (No Liquor Stores, No Auto Repair Shops, No Pawn Shops, No Pay Day Loans, etc.). Include a developer that can attract a higher-end restaurant, as a Let Us Entertain You brand, or midrange restaurant, as the Chills, Panera Bread, BJs brand restaurants, coffee shops as Rockets, or Caribou Coffees and white collar businesses as tax and accounting, insurance, legal will benefit West Chesterfield and contiguous communities. TOD that maintains its landscaping and has regular snow removal TOD that patrols its fronts and alleys regularly, in car or on bicycle. TOD that pay dues and becomes a WCCA member TOD whos workers comprise 50% Chicago residents, of which ten (10%) of contractors/employees are hired locally. TOD where 70% of the jobs represent the ethnicity of the community. TOD with a MBE property management group. TOD whos maintenance contractors are local MBEs TOD which represents the communitys history TOD with exterior 110 and 220 electric outlets on buildings and in landscapes. TOD Developer whose leases will have with signage restrictions requiring less that 10% of the window space is to have advertising in them. TOD Developer that will not allow advertising to be on the wrought iron fences.

MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT A standing committee comprised of WCCA representatives, local residents, elected officials, local business owners, churches, and other stakeholders shall be formed to monitor and advise on the implementation and execution of the above recommendations. Financial penalty for failure to comply with the CBA. WCCA will receive penalty fine income related to noncompliance issues. 7|Page

Cc:

Tiffany D. Hightower, Executive Director Developing Communities Project Toni Preckwinkle, President Cook County Board of Commissioners Stanley Moore, 4th District Cook County Commissioner Anthony Beale, Chicago 9th Ward Alderman Roderick T. Sawyer, Chicago 6th Ward Alderman Howard Brookins Jr., Chicago 21st Ward Alderman Donne E. Trotter, Senator, State of Illinois 17th District Elgie Sims Jr., Representative, State of Illinois 34th District Garry Francis McCarthy, Superintendent Chicago Police Department Michael P. Kelly, General Superintendent, Chicago Park District Cassandra Francis, President, Friends of the Parks Wayne D. Watson, Ph.D. President Chicago State University Phyllis Palmer, Board Member, Developing Communities Project Rev. Mitchell Johnson, JD, Consultant Development Communities Project, Inc. Williams Briggs Ph.D., 95th Street Panel of Development Liaison Clevan Tucker, President, Roseland Heights Community Association Gloria Cosey, President, Rosemoor Community Association Eli Washington, Chesterfield Community Council William Warren, President, Vernon Park Community Association Reverend J. Leon Thorn, Pastor St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church Reverend Herbert Lee, Pastor New Progressive Baptist Church Pastor, Rev Charles A Woolery, Westley United Church Pastor Frederick Wilson, Temple of the International House of Glory. Ken Bennett, Deputy Chief of Staff, Director of Public Engagement Wanda Wright, Community Relations, State University Cassandra Evans, Frank B. Lowden Homes Tom Shepard, the Southeast Environmental Task Force

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