Riverside Drive is finally living up to the vision Elgin officials had when the city invested millions to create the downtown centerpiece.
Restaurants and other businesses are opening outside areas along the promenade, which overlooks the Fox River. The weekly Downtown Elgin Market is introducing it to new visitors, and more pedestrians, cyclists and skateboarders are discovering of the scenic walkway.
There’s just one problem: If businesses are using the rear portions of their properties to take advantange of the riverfront, the dumpsters they need for their trash are getting in the way.
The city’s hoping the answer will be the temporary “garbage corral” it’s planning to build at the southwest corner of Chicago Street and South Grove Avenue. It will be on the northern side of a 1.3-acre, sunken-surface parking lot facing Riverside Drive with enough space to fit two solid waste dumpsters, a recycling dumpster and a grease container.
Precast panels matching the area’s architecture will surround it to disguise its use, officials said.
The corral will be funded with $33,000 from the area’s Tax Increment Financing district, which was approved by the Elgin City Council last week. Garbage collection service will be funded by the 35 businesses abutting Riverside Drive through a monthly fee based on the level of service needed, which will be paid to the Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA) and forwarded to the city.
“The need for this enclosure is primarily being borne by the growth along Riverside Drive,” DNA Executive Director Jennifer Fukala said at the June 12 council meeting.
More than 35 businesses back up to Riverside Drive, Fukala said, but those that want to use rear portion of their property to face the promenade have no place to put a dumpster or prefer not to have the container marring the atmosphere.
“The reality is that with new businesses coming, there is going to be a drastic increase in the number of dumpsters that back up to that area,” Fukala told the council. “The intended use of that area is a public space where people want to spend time.”
If Elgin wants Riverside Drive to function as intended, “we need to be solving these growth situations as they come up,” she said.
Rose Martinez was the only council member to vote against the proposal, saying she believed it was unfair to other downtown business owners.
“I know garbage is an issue for every business downtown,” she said at the meeting. “We really aren’t doing anything else for property owners in the rest of the area.”
Grace Richard, a downtown property owner, also did not agree with the city’s plan. There’s enough space for Riverside Drive businesses to have outdoor areas while also being able to have a dumpster on site.
“While the building owner or tenant may prefer to park in said space and not have a dumpster, it is the responsibility of the building owner or tenant to solve their own garbage issue,” Richard said.
“It is ludicrous to even think about taking city-owned land, which we hope down the road will be developed, and erecting a garbage corral with TIF money,” she said. “If they want a corral, let them pony up $33,000.”
While she wants to see Riverside Drive businesses succeed, TIF money should be used for downtown snow removal or other things that benefit everyone rather than a project that benefits just a few, she said.
Beyond that, Richard said, city officials “had very few answers” for questions about how many businesses plan to participate, what happens if a business decides to drop out, who is responsible for maintaining the corral and what happens if a company wants to redevelop the site.
The council will review and approve the final plan before construction of the permanent structure proceeds.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
