Charlie Smyth Urbana City Council Ward 1	email: csmyth at charliesmyth.org phone: 367-2813 805 S. Coler, Urbana, IL 61801

Vote Tuesday, April 7

We have an extremely talented staff that works very closely with the mayor. Many of the city goals developed by this council have been achieved and I look forward to future challenges. As the inevitable difficulties arise, we need to work together to change ordinances and interpretations. For example, we have made real strides on issues important to Neighborhood Preservation. We should all be proud that the city budget has been able to grow through careful growth and in-fill development, without tax rate increases. We have managed to increase the size of our police force and have improved working relationships with staff. Now in a major recession  we face several years of tough budget decisions as pension and health care costs continue to rise faster than the rate of inflation. To improve our tax base we need to continue efforts towards thoughtful redevelopment, as well as for appropriate development in collar areas around the city and in the revitalization of downtown.

Neighborhood Preservation and Safety
      Twenty years ago, I led the fight to create the current zoning between Busey and Lincoln. These past four years, we've added Neighborhood Conservations Districts, Design Review for the Busey Corridor, and updated the Zoning Ordinance. Walking to work, I regularly pass the homes, apartments, dorms, fraternities and sororities, neighborhood businesses, and university buildings that make up this diverse part of our community. As one of the top ten neighborhoods in the country (as recognozied by the American Planning Association) this is a truly unique area, and preserving it needs to be as important as development of other parts of Urbana.
     To fight demolotion through neglect and have safe housing for students, Rental Registration and a modern Property Maintenance Code were passed and have been in effect for two years. We need to continue to encourage home ownership as that helps preserve neighborhoods and keep down crime.

Economic Development and Smart Growth
     I continue to believe that we must have compatible, planned growth that takes into account future transportation needs, and encourages walking, biking, and public transit. There is much we can learn from the evolved designs of our older, established neighborhoods.
     The Philo Road corridor has seen substantial redevelopment with the opening of Meijer and The Pines and the redevelopment of the K-Mart site. The city has begun similar efforts to improve Cunningham Avenue and a number of businesses have open around town.. Though the Menards development is on hold, we need to be mindful of big-box stores and develop regulations that reflect their reality and permit development in ways that guarantee future stability for surrounding areas and existing businesses, while also minimizing their impact on residential neighborhoods.

Downtown
     Lincoln Square and Downtown continue to be a priority. The Mayor, Council, and staff continue to work on an overall vision for the area consisting of a number of plans including Boneyard Beautification, Broadway and Main Street plans, several site redevelopments, and a hotel modernization. We have learned that infill development requires a lot of patience.

Environment
      We have made steady progress towards minimizing our impact on the environment but I find the results, after 20 years, unremarkable. Sustainability is the current buzz word.Yes, we need to protect open spaces, minimize urban sprawl, and stem the loss of prime farmland but what are we doing about it? Urbana has been pursuing recycling, energy efficiency, and conservation efforts for many years but what else should we be doing (a question I hope our Sustanability Commission helps us answer)? Champaign County should be far more progressive with respect to all things sustainable. We should move as quickly as possible to implement the easy things like county-wide recycling of all materials including construction/demolition debris; efficient lighting designs using the latest standards for minimal light pollution and the use of LED's; encourage the use of bicycle, pedestrian, and mass transit; develop policies that encourage compact and infill development as well as green building practices; develop policies that encourage investing in wind, geothermal, and solar technologies; and putting in place programs to assist energy savings in homes and businesses. As soon as feasible, government buildings should have solar panels or green roofs and governmental policy should encourage local food and energy resiliency among other things.