Chicago City Council to Reconsider Accessory Dwelling Units

Chicago is reviving a citywide plan to legalize coach houses and other accessory dwelling units, a move that could reshape residential density rules — and reignite political tensions — across the city.

Alderman Bennett Lawson introduced legislation this week to expand the city’s ADU ordinance beyond its five pilot zones, where basement apartments, attic conversions and backyard coach houses have been allowed since 2021, Crain’s reported.

That pilot expires next May. Now is the time to make the reform permanent and universal, Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

The proposal would remove zoning restrictions that have prohibited ADUs on many lots citywide since the 1950s. Lawson said the goal is to create more housing in existing neighborhoods without the need for large-scale developments; Johnson has said he wishes to allow ADUs across the entire city by right.

The proposal is headed to the City Council’s zoning committee next week.

But the return of the citywide measure also revives pushback from aldermen who fear the policy could accelerate gentrification, overburden infrastructure or reduce parking availability. Those concerns stalled a 2020 version of the ordinance before it was pared down into the pilot program.

Fewer than 400 ADU permits have been issued under the pilot, with most concentrated in North Side neighborhoods like Lakeview, Logan Square and Lincoln Square. Advocates point to that data point as proof of demand, but also the limits of a fractured rollout. Some South and West Side areas, where aldermanic opposition was stronger, have seen few to none.

Opposition is fiercest among aldermen from the city’s Bungalow Belt, where single-family zoning has long been viewed as sacrosanct. Critics in these areas argue that legalizing ADUs could erode neighborhood character, inflate property taxes and invite speculative investor activity that displaces longtime homeowners.

Some neighborhoods have lobbied to join the program directly, while others are resistant. Developers and housing advocates argue that a citywide expansion would unlock significant infill potential, particularly for multigenerational households and small-scale investors.

— Judah Duke