The Naperville City Council has gone on record in opposing state legislation that could give regional transit agencies the authority to acquire land for outside development purposes as a revenue generator for their respective bottom lines.
If approved in Springfield, the legislation could give agencies such as the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra, and Pace the authority to acquire property within a half-mile radius of an existing station and market it for residential and commercial purposes.
Council concurs with city staff recommendation
In a show of solidarity, the Naperville City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 19, concurred with a staff-level recommendation to oppose giving increased land development authority to regional transit agencies.
Current state legislation gives regional transit agencies limited authority on land acquisition. The entities can acquire public and private property solely for the purposes of transit-related purposes, such as constructing parking lots for commuters to park their vehicles.
“Staff recommends opposing this expanded authority,” Marcie Schatz, assistant to the city manager, wrote in a memo.
Schatz continued, “The regional transit agencies should focus reforms and efforts on providing safe, affordable, and convenient transit services that are core to their mission and not expanding their land development authority.”
At the Aug. 19 meeting, the council voted unanimously in favor of the staff-level recommendation.
Transit rider implored council to take different course of action
Before the vote, 21-year-old Naperville resident Seth Deegan addressed the city council and implored elected officials to reject the staff-level recommendation and take a different course of action.
Deegan, who has been taking the Metra to get to Chicago for the past three years, said he is concerned with the funding shortfalls it and similar services are facing — particularly as pandemic-era relief funds are drying up.
“For Naperville commuters, this means fewer trains, limited schedules, higher fares, and possibly no weekend service at all,” Deegan said in sharing his concerns.
“This isn’t hypothetical. Other U.S. regions, like Philadelphia, have already cut all of their commuter rail lines when funding failed,” Deegan added. “If we allow this to happen here, our economic backbone that connects Naperville to Chicago will be severely weakened.”
He noted how some station-area development in places abroad allowed for the creation of businesses to help cover operating costs for transit, and urged officials to consider that option.
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