A city program originally intended to prohibit loitering by young cruisers along MacArthur Boulevard may become part of efforts to discourage graffiti and trash dumping at a former Kmart.
Members of a boulevard redevelopment group have proposed a “no-trespass” agreement between the building’s owners and the city that would give police another way to keep unwanted visitors away.
The primary goal is to keep parking lots clear by posting additional warnings against trespassing, said Carol Kneedler, who has been working on the issue for the MacArthur Boulevard Business Association.
“When we had our artists’ market (last summer), there were people hanging out there in the middle of the day,” said Kneedler.
She said she is awaiting final word on the proposal from TLM Realty Corp., the New York-based owners of the building at 2115 S. MacArthur Blvd.
No parking, partying
City spokesman Ernie Slottag said there are similar no-trespass agreements with business owners along the main commercial stretch of MacArthur, as well as with a few businesses on South Grand Avenue.
The agreements originated years ago as a way to keep young cruisers along “the strip” out of business parking lots, he said. The agreements give police a tool short of charging people with breaking and entering or vandalism.
“The purpose was to dissuade kids from parking there and partying or playing loud music. It allows police to go in and move them on,” said Slottag.
No-trespassing signs already are posted for other properties adjoining the Kmart building, but Sangamon County assistant state’s attorney Sarah Noll said simply hanging out on a private lot isn’t necessarily criminal trespassing.
“There has to be a very clear warning for people to keep off the property, and they have to stay on the property after they’ve been warned,” said Noll.
Criminal trespass normally is a class B or A misdemeanor punishable by six months to a year in jail and fines, though it could qualify as a felony in certain cases.
Is it needed?
Other than temporary uses such as indoor auto sales, the Kmart building has remained vacant since Kmart moved out in 2003.
Steve Luker of Lincoln Land Development Co., the local marketing firm for the property, said there is an alarm system at the building, and the company works with the police department. However, he said preventing graffiti and fly-dumping is a persistent problem.
Luker said that while he was not aware of the “no-trespass” discussions, he doubts it would help much.
“It’s the people who are the problem. It’s not the landlords,” said Luker. “We know it’s a vacant building, and they want to do all they can to keep it ready to use.”
Skip Costa, owner-manager of Roy’s Alterations & Custom Tailors, across MacArthur Boulevard from the former Kmart, said groups do linger in the building’s lot, but that they have caused no particular problems for his business.
“Maybe that (a no-trespass agreement) would help. It’s mostly the activities at night that are a problem,” he said.
Tim Landis can be reached at 788-1536.
What’s it worth?
Property tax billing data at the Sangamon County assessor’s office puts the fair-market value of the former Kmart building, 2115 S. MacArthur Blvd., at $3.6 million (2008 assessment for taxes payable in 2009).
Building owner TLM Realty Corp. of New York paid $90,693 in taxes last year.
Read the original article from The State Journal-Register.