Setting the Record Straight on the Pedcor Development

Through misinformation and scare tactics, my opponent and his supporters have attempted to gin up opposition to the Pedcor development. But the facts are not on their side.

First and foremost, this is not government housing, nor a Section 8 or a subsidized housing development. Pedcor is a privately owned corporation. They pay taxes and maintain their own property.

The state mandates our housing stock be at least 10% affordable housing, and we are only at 6.9% according to the state’s calculations. Not meeting the state’s requirement may affect our funding and grant approvals, which could seriously hamper our economic development efforts. Even after this development, we will only be at 7.4%, but we can at least show we are making progress, which is typically enough to avoid any penalties.

So when we were approached about this development, we understood the necessity of moving forward. Not only would this help fill our need for workforce housing, a program developed by President Reagan in the 80s, but it also filled a parcel that had been vacant for over 8 years. These beautiful townhouse apartments will add value to the area while satisfying a need for affordable housing in our community.

Since this complies with our Comprehensive Plan, we moved forward, being careful to do so transparently and openly. We ran this through our usual development process, yet took extra care to inform the public and solicit public input. Over the course of 6 months we held multiple public meetings, heavily publicizing the meetings and even adjusting the rules to ensure that individuals had as many opportunities to speak as they wished.

The biggest concern we heard was the possibility of crime, which is a reasonable concern. As a result, we have taken extra steps to ensure this development does not result in an increase in crime so we can continue to have an extremely low crime rate in the Village of Cary. Residents will have to go through 4 different background checks and they will be required to prove they are gainfully employed, credit-worthy and upstanding individuals.

As a result, this development will bring new hard-working individuals into our community who will enjoy our upscale lifestyle as they seek greater opportunities, eventually moving on to purchase our entry-level homes. Many of these individuals will be young professionals and families from the McHenry County area, aged 20-30, who are looking for a place to put down their roots. These new residents will utilize our shopping centers, use our dry cleaners and salons, fill up at our gas stations, enjoy our restaurants, work in our business parks, and buy into our wonderful community.

*Average value of 10 homes surrounding Pedcor (Source: Zillow)