I remember how the social engineers who put together the original RTA proposal declared war on cars by included a five percent tax on gasoline and authority for parking lot taxes.
Both were repealed as hostility to the Regional Authority’s taxes deterred people from driving to Downtown Chicago and the ruling elite decided that having the RTA gas tax listed on every gas station sign was not a good political idea.
(The RTA gas tax was replaced with a sales tax under Governor Jim Thompson, which eliminated the post-RTA referendum legislative mandate for the gas station signs and authority for parking lots.)
Now comes the same mindset with the idea that Chicago-centric experts know best how to develop land around train stations.
The Daily Herald laid out the language in an article where suburban mayors, including Cary’s Mark Kownick, trashed the idea:
“The provision states that NITA ‘shall have power to acquire by purchase (and) condemnation” any property within half a mile of a train or bus station for the purpose of transit-supportive development, such as housing or retail.‘” [Emphasis added.]
Kownick reacted with this mild comment: “it would be detrimental to local control, something we fight for every day.
“We as mayors take our roles and our communities very seriously. We would hate for some board that is made up of appointed people to come in and say: ‘We want do this. We want to take this building out and add more housing there.’
“We’re wondering, why isn’t transit staying in its own lane?”
