Andersonville residents urge alderman to ban apartment, condo construction

The alderman who represents the Edgewater neighborhood is considering a proposal by neighbors to rezone an eight-block stretch so that only single-family homes would be allowed to be built there.

Attendees of a public meeting last week voted by a nearly four-to-one margin in support of changing the area’s zoning from RT-4, which allows multifamily buildings up to three stories tall, to RS-3, which only allows the construction of detached houses. Alderman Harry Osterman (48th) did not say whether he would support the proposal, according to Edgeville Buzz.

The meeting was organized by the East Andersonville Preservation Task Force, whose members have said the proposal is crucial to warding off developers who would demolish existing homes and replace them with three-story condo buildings.

The eight short blocks bounded by Clark Street, Bryn Mawr Avenue, Glenwood Avenue and Foster Avenue mostly comprise two- and three-flat apartment buildings, but they’re surrounded on three sides by single-family zoning designations. The three blocks directly to its south are also zoned RT-4, but they’re represented by Alderman Ameya Pawar (47th), who generally supports denser housing in wealthy areas near transit stations.

Osterman said he would decide during the next few weeks whether to request a zoning change in the City Council.

Data published last week by DePaul University’s Institute for Housing Studies showed that Chicago lost more than 20,000 walk-up apartments and condos between 2010 and 2016, leaving fewer affordable options for renters. [Edgeville Buzz] — Alex Nitkin