Plan Commission Advises Looser Restrictions Downtown

The St. Charles Plan Commission on Tuesday night recommended City Council adoption of changes to the downtown overlay district that officials hope will make it easier to fill up vacant storefronts.

The Plan Commission’s support of the changes passed 5-1, with Commissioner Sue Amatangelo casting the sole dissenting vote. Earlier, she had expressed support for preserving Main Street as a retail district. The overlay changes, which were presented in a public hearing held prior to the vote, would allow some types of office use that previously have been barred on the street level in the downtown corridor.

Community Development Planning Division Manager Russell Colby told the commission the city established the overlay district when it adopted its zoning ordinance in 2006. The Downtown Overlay District, which sits over two existing districts downtown, generally restricts the types of businesses that can open on the street level to those types of businesses that generate pedestrian traffic downtown.

The staff memo to the commission states that the overlay was an attempt to preserve economic vitality and the pedestrian character of the downtown’s shopping core.

But the overlay district was adopted just before the onset of the Great Recession, which forced many businesses nationwide to close their doors and served to discourage new business development.

As in other communities across the nation, St. Charles saw storefronts vacancies rise, and the economy ensured that few retailers were lining up to fill the gap.

Meantime, however, Colby said the city has been seeing increased interest in downtown storefront use as office space, which is restricted in the city’s Downtown Overlay District.

Colby pointed out to the Plan Commission that the 2013 Comprehensive Plan advises greater flexibility on downtown restrictions until retail makes a comeback. Further, he said, the city could ease the overlay restrictions even as it seeks to ensure a greater number of pedestrians walking through the downtown area.

Under the proposed changes, the city would establish a certification process for office uses in the downtown. Criteria for allowing an office use would include:

• That the space has not been leased and has been marketed for rent for at least 180 days.

• The office would generate customer traffic.

• The entrances and reception area for the office would be visible from the street.

• Storefront windows would not be obstructed and would be lighted in the evening.

Colby outlined an array of benefits of adopting the proposed revisions to the overlay district — filling vacant spaces downtown would benefit property owners and improve the appearance of the area, for example, as well as increasing the number of people downtown during the day, which would be a boon to local restaurants and other shops.

Further, he said, the changes could be reversed easily as retail interest in the downtown grows.

On the negative side, the changes might hamper retail development in the downtown, should vacant spaces become occupied by offices with long-term leases, he said.