A suburban developer is asking a judge to allow it to build ground-floor and basement-level residences on a busy street in Chicago after a city zoning board denied the request.
An LLC tied to La Grange-based DCSL Properties sued the city, saying the Zoning Board of Appeals unfairly denied its request to include the units in a planned for a four-story residential building in West Town, according to a lawsuit filed last week.
The developers are under contract to buy property in the 1600 block West Grand Avenue with plans to build an eight-unit building with a detached eight-car garage on the site, according to zoning board documents. Before closing on the deal, CSL sought a zoning change to allow for residences on the ground floor and in the basement. The current zoning calls for retail storefronts with residences allowed above ground-level.
That zoning request — plus a request to allow for a height of 48-feet instead of the allowed 45 feet — were denied by the board in September. Now the company is suing, saying the board in considered matters that fell outside of the zoning ordinance, and therefore were “not germane” to the ruling, according to the suit.
The suit does not say what other factors were considered in the ruling. DCSL is asking a judge to reverse the board’s decision.
Denis Sullivan, a manager of the LLC tied to DCSL, did not respond to a request for comment.