Crimmings to resign as chairman of the city's Redevelopment Authority

John Crimmings, long-time chairman of the city's Redevelopment Authority, plans to resign from the board. He'll do it as soon as enough members show up to hold a meeting.

For the second week in a row the RDA failed to draw enough members to hold a legal meeting. As a result, Crimmings had to put off his announcement.

Crimmings (right), a Realtor who is vice president, general sales manager for First Weber in Racine, is resigning after more than 20 years on the volunteer board, which owns and manages property for the city.

"I was going to announce it tonight," he said about his plan to resign. "I've been talking about it for quite some time."

Only three of the RDA's seven members showed up Tuesday night. Crimmings, Alderman Jim Spangenberg and member Bob Ledvina attended. State Rep. Cory Mason, Scott Terry, Pete Karas and David Lange didn't attend. The committee was one member short of being able to hold a legal meeting.

"I'm very disappointed we can't get a quorum," Crimmings said. "It's very frustrating."

Crimmings was appointed in the late 1980s by Mayor Owen Davies. He replaced Marion Langdon, a School Board member for many years who was very well known in local real estate. Crimmings said he enjoyed his time on the board.

"It's a great organization to be a part of. In the first 10 or 12 years I was on this commission, you could meet just three or four times a year. In the past five to seven years, there's a lot going on; very significant issues. Development and redevelopment are very important," he said.

As for why now, Crimmings said: "I think it's just time. Anytime you're part of a volunteer committee for that long, you start having an effect on everyone else. That's either positive or negative. There's enough going on, it'll be good to bring new ideas."

Crimmings, who is not paid to serve as chairman, added the RDA "is costing me money, because I can't have any dealings with the city. I'm sure some people think I'm making a lot of money by serving on the Redevelopment Authority."

Mayor John Dickert will appoint Crimmings' successor and RDA members will elect a new chairman. The RDA is next scheduled to meet on April 7.

Proposed West Racine grocery store, gas station faces Monday deadline

Jim Spangenberg, Nicole Loop, Brian O'Connell, John Crimmings and Jean Wolfgang

at Wednesday's RDA meeting.

Developer Tom Tousis has until Monday at 4:30 p.m. to pay the city $5,000 or he'll lose an option on the West Racine site where he intends to build a grocery store, restaurant and gas station.

The city's Redevelopment Authority voted 3-2 to set the Monday deadline after Tousis missed a Jan. 16 deadline to make the payment. Tousis withheld payment after discovering a pipe on the property, located at Washington Avenue and West Boulevard, ran through the middle of his proposed building.

The standoff is based around the complicated, and distrustful, relationship between Tousis and city officials. Tousis claims the city has worked against his project, most recently, by not telling him about a stormwater pipe that runs through the property.

On the flip side, city officials are mystified by Tousis' unwillingness to meet deadlines and follow through on a development he's spent $30,000 on to this point.

Assistant City Attorney Nicole Loop said, legally, Tousis is in breach of contract for failing to pay the $5,000 on time.

"I'm at a loss of where this is coming from," she said.

"If he'd set out to complicate a matter, he couldn't have done a better job," O'Connell added about Tousis.

But the RDA was unwilling to kill Tousis' project Wednesday. Alderman Jim Spangenberg, an outspoken opponent of the proposal, moved to end Tousis' option on the land, but the motion died because no one else seconded the motion.

Cory Mason, a member of the RDA, then sifted through the issue and came up with a proposal to give Tousis until Monday to pay. Spangenberg then moved to set the deadline until Friday, but his amendment was defeated 3-2. The Monday deadline then passed 3-2, with RDA Chairman John Crimmings, Mason and Scott Terry voting in favor. Spangenberg and Robert Ledvina voted against the proposal.

It's unclear what Tousis will do next. He's deposited $5,000 with Landmark Title with the intention of releasing the money to the city when he gets a reliable survey on the West Racine site.

But the RDA made it clear Wednesday Tousis needs to pay the money directly to the city. If he doesn't, the option is dead and the project won't move forward.

"I really don't think he's going to come with the money," Spangenberg said. "I think he's afraid he's going to lose the money."

Karen Sorensen (left), who represented Tousis at the meeting, said the project is at a standstill until the city presents them with a survey showing all easements on the site.

"We never dreamed there was information that we didn't know," she told the RDA.

No Option: City puts off decision on West Racine grocery store, gas station

The Redevelopment Authority met Wednesday in the City Council chambers.
About 75 people attended the meeting.

A proposed grocery store, gas station, restaurant and bank in West Racine remains in limbo after the Redevelopment Authority's meeting on Wednesday.

Project developer Tom Tousis had hoped to secure a 12-month option to buy the 1.5-acre site, located at West Boulevard and Washington Avenue, from the RDA, which owns the land. But the RDA only agreed Wednesday to direct city staff to negotiate with Tousis on an option to buy the land. Tousis will need to return to the RDA to get the option.

The option is a critical step because Tousis needs RDA support for his project to advance to the next round of city approvals. The City Council's Plan Commission and other committees cannot consider the $5 million proposal if Tousis does not have the right to purchase the property.

Wednesday's outcome was somewhat unexpected because Tousis and RDA officials both seemed surprised/confused by the project's status. Here's an explanation of what happened based on interviews and attending the meeting:

* Tousis submitted his project to the city on Sept. 11 and it was referred to the RDA for consideration.

* The RDA put the project on its October agenda as a public hearing with an initial recommendation to "receive and file" the proposal. Tousis was hoping to secure rights to buy the land so the project could advance to other city committees.

* On Tuesday (the day before the RDA meeting), the city notified Tousis that he needed to work with the RDA's real estate agent to establish terms of the land option, including price and length. This was news to Tousis, who didn't know the RDA wanted him to negotiate the option.

* On Wednesday, the RDA's meeting agenda changed the staff recommendation on Tousis' project from "receive and file" to "defer" to give Tousis time to negotiate the option.

* The RDA voted unanimously Wednesday to direct staff to negotiate the option with Tousis.

Tom Tousis speaks during Wednesday's RDA meeting.

Following Wednesday's meeting, Zak Williams, a spokesman for Tousis, said the RDA's action was another "roadblock" to Tousis' efforts to build in West Racine. He noted the city had Tousis' project nearly a month before the RDA meeting but never said Tousis needed to negotiate an option before Wednesday's meeting.

Williams said city officials, including Mayor John Dickert and City Development Director Brian O'Connell, were stalling on Tousis' project.

"The city staff does not want this proposal to move forward," Williams said, adding: "The mayor has been very aware of what Brian O'Connell has been doing with this project, and he's done nothing about it."

Dickert, who sat in on the RDA meeting, said afterward that the RDA's decision was a common sense vote. Tousis only asked the RDA to review his project, and that's what the RDA did, Dickert said. If Tousis wanted an option on the land, Dickert said, he should have brought an option for the RDA to consider.

In other words, since there was no option, the RDA had nothing to vote on.

RDA Chairman John Crimmings said as much during the meeting. "The problem I have is we don't have an option to consider," he said. "It's very difficult to grant an option when we don't have an option."

The outcome suggested one of three things occurred:

1. The city sprung the option requirement on Tousis at the last minute, possibly to delay a vote.
2. Tousis made a mistake and failed to work on the option prior to Wednesday's meeting.
3. Everything went as it should, and this is just part of the approval process.

One person who seemingly can't be blamed for the delay is Alderman Jim Spangenberg, who is opposed to Tousis' plans to build a gas station but said he was "not against" giving Tousis the option.

Spangenberg did say he opposed a lengthy option (18 months) on the property, in part because a handful of other developers received options and then did nothing with the site. He also said he wouldn't vote for an option without seeing information about the deal and more about Tousis' background and project.

One positive for Tousis out of Wednesday's meeting was the RDA held its public hearing on his project, which is a step forward in the approval process. A majority of the people who spoke Wednesday night backed Tousis' 25,000-square-foot project.

Alderman Greg Helding and Elaine Sutton-Ekes, both city Plan Commission members, both spoke in favor of granting Tousis the option. Both said they looked forward to reviewing the project in detail at their meetings.

A sketch of the gas station canopy designed to look like a train depot Tom Tousis
intends to build in West Racine.

Tousis himself spoke on the project Wednesday. He revealed a new canopy for the gas station that would be designed to resemble an old train station and would use motion sensors to light up at night only when customers were present. Tousis also said the project would reclaim stormwater on the project and use it for landscaping, would setup a neighborhood recycling center and may even compost leftover food to create a source for renewable energy.

Dick Hinsman, who owns a property adjacent to the vacant lot in the 3100 block of Washington Avenue, continued his strong opposition to the project. Hinsman spoke during the public comment period and said a gas station would bring too much traffic to the corner.

Robin Wilson, the owner of Wilson's Coffee and Tea in West Racine, said he supported the grocery store and restaurant, but said a gas station was "completely unacceptable."

A representative from the West Racine Business and Professional Association, said the organization met this week and supported Tousis' grocery store, restaurant and bank, but said the gas station did not fit with plans for West Racine. (Tousis attempted to attend the association's meeting Tuesday morning, but was asked to leave.)

Real estate agent Karen Sorenson speaks at Wednesday's RDA meeting.

The next step for the controversial project is unknown. Karen Sorenson, Tousis' Realtor on the project, said she would write-up an option on the land by Friday. She asked the RDA if they would consider a special meeting this month so Tousis wouldn't have to wait until November to appear again before the RDA. Crimmings was non-committal on the idea.

As a side note to the meeting, state Rep. Cory Mason didn't attend the meeting but did listen in through conference call. There was some disagreement over whether Mason could vote at the meeting. Assistant City Attorney Nicole Loop said City Attorney Rob Weber had cleared Mason to vote by phone if he participated in the meeting, which she said is consistent with state law. But during the actual meeting Crimmings said Mason wouldn't be allowed to vote.

Mason himself said Tuesday he was told he could vote by phone.

The issue proved irrelevant because no votes were close enough for Mason to make a difference, but could be worth watching at future meetings.

Dollar store gets a second vote of confidence from city committee

The City Council will get another chance to approve a new dollar store on Washington Avenue.

The city’s Redevelopment Authority voted unanimously Wednesday night to re-recommend support for a roughly 14,000-square-foot development anchored by Family Dollar at 1130 Washington Ave. (See our previous story for more details on the development.)

The council had sent the proposal back to the RDA after Alderman Jeff Coe raised questions about the development. The site, the former home of Schaefer Pontiac, sits in Coe’s district.

During its regularly scheduled Wednesday meeting, the RDA initially seemed to favor starting the development process over. Coe, Alderman Michael Shields and the owner of Puma Cycles, located across the street from the development site, all were against the proposed dollar store.

But a strong argument from Kristin Niemiec, of the Racine County Economic Development Council, and Linea Anthony, of the Uptown Business Improvement District, seemed to reinvigorate support for the dollar store development proposed by Abdo Markethouse of Minneapolis.

Niemiec argued the city had issued two requests for proposals for 1130 Washington Ave. already. Sending out a third RFP could turn away Abdo and leave the city with fewer options for the site, she said. “My hunch is we’re going to lose them,” Niemiec said.

She also noted this would be the first new construction in the Uptown area in several years, and the developer is using their own money to pay for the new construction. The development is expected to be assessed at over $1 million.

“Macy’s isn’t coming,” she said. “I hate to break it to the Uptown folk, but it’s not coming.”

“How many times are we going to be able to do this?” she asked. “… this ideal development that doesn’t take a subsidy and everyone wants doesn’t exist. There’s always going to be someone who’s unhappy.”

Niemiec, whose frustration showed through, poked fun at herself. She called herself the “crazy RCEDC woman trying to railroad everything” through the council.

Railroading or not, the RDA listened. The breakthrough compromise came when the RDA agreed to talk to Abdo Markethouse about including groceries or a deli inside the Family Dollar store to serve as a resource for the surrounding neighborhood.

Coe said he would support the development if it included the grocery component. Shields raised questions about how, exactly, the city would convince or require the developer to add those elements.

City Development Director Brian O’Connell said the project had a lengthy review process that would give city officials opportunities to influence the design. But he also noted the Common Council’s vote in two weeks, technically to give Abdo Markethouse a 90-day option on buying the land at 1130 Washington Ave. for $70,000, would lock in the site’s general use. For example, a city committee couldn’t force the developer to abandon the dollar store.

Underlying approval of the development was the impact new construction could have on the entire Uptown area.

Anthony noted the $1 million+ development would lie within the Uptown BID and generate money for the group, which works to support Uptown businesses. The development also lies within the Uptown tax incremental finance district that’s being used to improve buildings in Uptown.

“Trader Joe’s is not coming here,” Anthony said. “We can’t even get a Starbuck’s in Downtown Racine. This is a lot of tax revenue, a lot of BID money that can be used for something down the road.”

Alderman Jim Spangenberg, who sits on the RDA, also noted the city has to be careful about how it works with developers. It put out RFPs and got responses. If it’s constantly turning people away, it could give the city a reputation as being hard to work with.

In the case of 1130 Washington Ave., getting too picky could result in an empty lot for the “next 20 years,” Spangenberg said.

Coe hinted at a possible competing use for the site. He said the developer interested in building a gas station had talked about adding space for a small grocery store and working with neighboring businesses to help them expand.

The RDA approved a gas station for the site the first time around, but had to seek new proposals after the first deal fell through. Shields asked what changed from the first time when the RDA voted for a gas station and the second time it voted for the dollar store.

John Crimmings, chairman of the RDA, said input from Uptown business owners convinced the committee to approve a retail development over a gas station.

Puma, who seemed to oppose the dollar store, said he was hoping the city would work toward a development that would tie together Uptown with Downtown. He didn’t think the dollar store would serve that role.

“We have a golden opportunity,” Puma said. “… I’d hate to see it lost on a rush to judgment.”