As some of you may have heard IWU, ISU, Bro-Menn, the City of Bloomington and the Town of Normal are pursuing the beautification of the Main Street Corridor through the implementation of a Form Based Code. By definition form based code means that form precedes function. Function follows at a distant second.
Local governmental talking heads seek to re-assure Main Street property owners that they are "grandfathered in" and that this plan is for 20-30 years down the road. However if the code is passed it becomes an immediate reality in case of a catastrophic event such as a fire or tornado that may cause in excess of 50% of structural value.
Form Based Code establishes that beauty is more important than whether a new building would effectively serve the needs of the business of the current property owner. In other words, if the new building as required by the form based code doesn't work for the continued successful operation of Mugsy's Pub then tough luck! This is the attitude that would prevail for ALL property owners on the Main Street Corridor!!! Tobins, Casey's, Avanti's, Weaver's Rent All, and home owners etc. Rather than working within the confines of property owned, form based code tells you where to put a new building and what size it will be.
It is IWU, ISU, and Bro-Menn that have their "visions" of what they would like to see border their vast land holdings. It is these organizations that fully understand (although they might not admit) that form based code will most definitely de-value property values of all other property owners on Main Street due to more regulations and restrictions. It's just takes common sense to realize this.
Now comes the City of Bloomington and the Town of Normal that to date have not provided any details to the citizens or the property owners as to how much this will cost. Some have talked about creating a TIF district but have not noted what burden of costs the taxpayers can expect. New infrastructure will be needed and these costs have not been assessed! The City of Bloomington is currently $5.2 million in the red and the Town of Normal has committed $85 million in bonds!!! And besides,,,after some of the boondoggles of irresponsible spending in the past,,,who do we trust with our tax dollars?
Please join me in standing strong against special interests that lobby government to take advantage of the rest of us. Call your mayor and city council members and tell them to, "Save MAIN STREET,,,No Form Based Code"
Oh and by the way,,,we can still beautify the Main Street Corridor without the FBC! Thank you.
