Batavia planners to review Campana project; hearing to be broadcast, live-streamed

BATAVIA – The controversial proposal for putting 80 residential apartments inside the historic Campana building will get a public hearing before the Batavia Plan Commission on Aug. 2.

The hearing for Evergreen Real Estate Group’s plan will begin at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at the Batavia Government Center, 100 N. Island Ave., Batavia.

The meeting may be viewed live on Batavia Access Television. It will be broadcast on Batavia Comcast Channel 10 and live-streamed on BATV’s website, mybatv.com, as well as its You Tube channel, youtube.com/user/BATV1017.

Batavia city officials recommend that citizens watch the proceedings from the comfort of their homes unless they are planning to sign in and testify at the hearing.

When the Batavia City Council first heard the proposal May 2, a large crowd of area residents jammed the council chambers, followed by a meeting at the Batavia Congregational Church on July 17 that also was well attended.

The Plan Commission hearing is expected to attract a big audience. If the council chambers are filled to capacity, the overflow crowd will be directed to the Fox River Conference Room inside the building, where there will be a television hookup.

The $30 million project would include 36 one-bedroom units, 38 two-bedroom units, and six three-bedroom units. Of these, 16 would be market-rate apartments, and 64 would be income-restricted.

Evergreen would make use of low-income housing tax credits to help finance the project and offer affordable rents to the tenants of the income-restricted units. Low-income households are defined as making no more than 60 percent of the median income in the local area.

Many area residents are objecting to the income-restricted proposal, contending that the use will lower surrounding property values and increase crime.

While located in the city of Batavia, at 901 N. Batavia Ave., the Campana building is within Geneva School District 304.

According to Evergreen, the project would produce about 26 students attending Geneva schools, with about 11 enrolled at Western Avenue Elementary School.

Evergreen, based in Chicago, wants to use the original 1936 factory building and the north addition for the apartments, while maintaining business uses in the south and west additions.

Under the city’s zoning code, 301 parking spaces would be required to serve the residential and business uses. Evergreen is asking the city to approve the plan with just 206 spaces.

The project is being considered by the city as a “planned unit overlay.” Therefore, the city’s Community Development Department defines the parking request not as a variance from the zoning code, but as a “modification to the requirements of the zoning code.”

Whatever the jargon, the number of parking spaces being proposed is well below the city’s requirement and is expected to be a major issue during the Plan Commission’s discussions.

The Campana building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979 and was designated a local landmark by the city of Batavia in 2003.