Buckley: Board Committed to Seeing Redevelopment Through
In a recent letter to residents, Shrewsbury Mayor Felicity Buckley said the city would have to approach next year's budget without the promise of increased sales tax revenue.
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The stalled, and sometimes embattled, Kenrick Plaza redevelopment project remains in limbo, but Shrewsbury Mayor Felicity Buckley has reaffirmed her support for the project.
“While we have had significant set backs, the majority of the Board and I remain hopeful, and committed to seeing the project through,” Buckley wrote in a message to Shrewsbury residents.
However, Buckley went on to confirm that negotiations with developer G J Grewe and revisions to the proposed site plan were both still ongoing. In November Grewe said the site plan needed revising to avoid “years of litigation” over the plaza’s placement near the guy-wires of a nearby radio tower. However, the awkward landscape of the area appears to have stalled the project longer than originally planned.
“Because of the possible changes to the project, all parties involved agreed that the TIF public hearing should be postponed,” Buckley wrote.
Despite the board’s hopes to move beyond the project’s setbacks, Buckley said that it would be necessary to approach the city’s 2013 budget on the assumption that the project would not go through. The first cost/benefit analysis of the Walmart-anchored redevelopment projected $1 million in new tax revenue for Shrewsbury, starting in March of 2013. Instead, the board will have to make tough choices to bring down the city’s deficit.
According to the letter, the board is planning two all-day work sessions to discuss ways to reduce the deficit, and the city will host a town hall to answer resident questions about their findings.
Tony Rivera
6:40 pm on Thursday, February 2, 2012
The guy wires were always known. Grewe, PGAV, Bert and Barry all used the guy wires to convince us that we HAD to have big box retail at Kenrick, and did so for years.
Citizens pleaded for mixed use, something less intrusive. But we had to have big box. Why? Let's look at just a few of the examples:
BOA Work Session, Jan 9 2010: "Grewe...mentioned the TV tower guy lines. The most logical user...is a bix box retailer."
Blighting Study, Feb 24, 2010: "The primary issues associated with these anchors and guy wires are that theirlocations on the theater site have a significant influence on how the site can be configured and, in that regard; the anchor locations impede certain types of development."
TIF Plan - Aug 30, 2011 - even includes pictures of the guy wires!
And yet, after all this time using the guy wire excuse as a means to manipulate the citizens of Shrewsbury into believing that a taxpayer-financed Wal-mart development is the only option for Kenrick, Grewe says plans are delayed because we need to deal with the guy wires?
Obviously something false going on here. It is clear that Grewe is pulling out of the deal. Can the city sue him for failure to follow through, similar to the way he sued Columbia IL (and lost, though he nearly bankrupted the city in the process?)
Shrewsbury just took the site plan down but the wires were always there. And we are supposed to believe that all of a sudden they're a problem? Something STINKS!
Tony Rivera
5:31 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
Morty, do you understand that with TIF, revenues can be frozen at pre-TIF levels and therefore "increased revenue" is not a given?
Do you understand that the City of Shrewsbury and its citizens would be fronting the development thirty million dollars in the form of bonds for which we are on the hook?
Do you understand that the manager that has let Kenrick rot for the past 10 years stands to personally gain from its deterioration?
Do you understand that this plaza was built at the same time as Mackenzie Pointe?
Do you even understand that the project was put on hold due to the developer and not due to citizens? Do you get that? Or do you spout what the police and fire departments try to make you believe in their never-ending quest for a bigger piece of taxpayer pie?