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📸 Credit: Batavia city memo
Batavia's Committee of the Whole voted 10-2 Tuesday to recommend approval of a conditional use permit that would allow the Batavia Public School District to purchase and use 812 Main Street as an extension of its existing maintenance and storage operations next door at 804 Main Street.
The decision wasn't without friction in a discussion that lasted more than an hour.
Here's what to know:
The district’s goals: The school district has operated at 804 Main Street since 2014, using the facility as a central hub for vehicle maintenance, equipment storage, school supplies, and technology staging. It now wants to purchase the adjacent 812 Main Street building (which it's already been “leasing to own”) to expand storage capacity. Batavia Youth Baseball, which currently leases space at 812, would stay.
Why the buildings are linked: The two properties share a driveway that provides the only vehicle access to 804's service bays, and 812's fire sprinkler system runs through 804. Separating them could cost the district between $250,000 and $500,000 — money the district said it doesn't have.
A condition that got pulled: When the Plan Commission recommended approval in February, it included a condition requiring the school district to hold off on seeking a property tax exemption until TIF 4 (the tax district that funds West Town redevelopment) expires. The city attorney later removed that condition.
The West Town tension: The strongest opposition centered around the notion that the proposal runs counter to the city's West Town redevelopment vision for that stretch of Main Street. Officials noted that once the school district owns the property, it stops paying property taxes — meaning the city loses roughly $6,000 a year along with the ability to use that parcel as part of its West Town redevelopment plans for decades to come.
The recommendation now goes to the full Batavia City Council, which is scheduled to take up the matter on March 16.
About the area: West Town is a former industrial railroad district in Batavia — roughly bounded by Main Street to the south, Harrison Street to the west, Walnut Street to the east, and Morton/First Street to the north — that the city has been steering toward mixed residential and commercial redevelopment since 2015, backed by a TIF district.
Both 812 and 804 Main Street fall within the plan area, near The Elms restaurant (now closed), which is in the process of changing hands.
Read more about the proposal and watch the committee discussion.
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