CHICAGO — Home and business owners in parts of Logan Square and Avondale are eligible for funds to make green improvements to their property.
Earlier this year the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency awarded $200,000 to home and business owners in the area along Milwaukee Avenue between California and Central Park avenues that makes up the Milwaukee Avenue Green Development Corridor.
The funds — about $100,000 is still available — can also be used to fund various projects to reduce flooding from storm water, including things like rain barrels and permeable paving, which help soak up rainwater instead of letting it to run off into streets and sidewalks.
"There's all sorts of things people can do," said Metropolitan Planning Council spokeswoman Mandy Burrell Booth. "It's just a matter of how much they want to retrofit their house or business."
Some of the other options include creating a rain garden with native plants that have deep root structures to suck up rainwater.
Or business owners can build a "green roof" filled with a variety of plant life, or a "green wall" covered in climbing plants that cover the wall of a house or building.
"It will make a measurable difference," Burrell Booth said, adding that this pilot program could lead to bigger green developments in the future.
Property owners have until the end of next year to apply for the funds, but Burrell Booth said organizers hope it will all be accounted for by spring so the building and planting can begin.
More information, including a map of the area and a list of eligible addresses can be found here.
