St. Charles Looks at Establishing Business District Along East Main Street Corridor

The St. Charles East Main Street corridor is eligible to be designated as a business improvement district, the Kane County Chronicle is reporting.

Consultants for the city told the Planning and Development Committee area has inadequate street layouts, there are areas of deterioration and has economic under use. The area under discussion includes commercial areas such as Charlestowne Mall, Tin Cup Pass, the former Baker’s Square and Main Street Commons, the Chronicle reports.

Creating a business improvement district would allow the city to to enact a special sales and hotel tax, which can be used for a variety of activities including land assembly, public infrastructure improvements, site preparation, and advertising. In a , City Administrator Brian Townsend said establishing a business district "is an opportunity to provide incentives for redevelopment and marketing activities."

In a 2009 city survey, almost 70 percent of respondents rated the appearance of East Main Street as “average,” “poor,” or “very poor.” It was the lowest rated corridor in St. Charles, Townsend said.

If council approves the plan, the consulting company Ehlers and Associates will develop a plan to redevelop the corridor, including economic development activities and costs.

The discussion of the business corridor came on the heels of a report on , which is part of the area under discussion.