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Andersonville alderman agrees to zoning change to ban multi-unit buildings
Residents in East Andersonville had proposed the measure as a way to preserve smaller, older dwellings
Alderman Harry Osterman (48th) will support rezoning an eight-block stretch of East Andersonville to ban the construction of multi-unit residential buildings unless builders seek special permission from the city.
Osterman said he will propose a measure at next month’s City Council meeting to bump down the zoning in the area bounded by Clark Street, Foster Avenue, Glenwood Avenue and Bryn Mawr Avenue, according to Crain’s.
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. Proponents of the change said it would keep developers from demolishing historic homes and replacing them with three-story condo buildings, while detractors said the move would make it more difficult to renovate or build additions to their homes.
The alderman issued a statement asking a neighborhood group to “create a streamlined process to review future variance requests from homeowners,” which could “help property owners in Chicago and Andersonville by adding a unit and providing more housing units in our community.”
Data published last week by DePaul University’s Institute for Housing Studies showed Chicago lost more than 20,000 walk-up apartments and condos between 2010 and 2016, leaving fewer affordable options for renters all over the city. [Crain’s] — Alex Nitkin