Affordable housing was on the agenda at Monday night’s Park Ridge City Council meeting, as the board received a presentation from Community Preservation and Development Director Drew Awsumb concerning recent changes in state law.
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“The standard is that 10% of your units are affordable,” Awsumb said. “Park Ridge is at 8%. So what do we need to do to get to that number?”
There were no answers to that question in the discussion before City Council, but Awsumb did outline the next steps that will occur in the months ahead as Park Ridge, like many other municipalities in the region, must come up with a plan to move toward compliance with the updated state mandate.
The original act, passed in 2004, established the 10% threshold. But it did not contain a home-rule preemption, meaning that home-rule communities could ignore the mandates without any consequences. The latest revisions to the act made by the Illinois General Assembly established that the rule will indeed apply to all Illinois communities, which means many will be scrambling to meet the 10% affordability number before the next measurement, which is expected in 2024.
“Park Ridge, like all communities in Illinois, will need to file a plan with the state,” Awsumb said. “We wanted to provide information about the law and answer questions we have been asked.”
In his memo to the council, Awsumb stated, “It’s important to recognize that the act only compels the city to prepare and adopt a plan and to regulate affordable housing developers in a non-discriminatory way; it is not a directive to proactively create new affordable dwellings in the community.”
But since Park Ridge is under the 10% threshold, it will need to provide information to the state and create a plan following the act’s guidelines.
“We’ve been looking at examples of other housing plans that other communities have filed,” Aswumb said. “We’ve found other communities that are comparable to us, and we’re looking at an overview of their methodology.
“Not that they’re going to write our plan for us,” he said. “But we’re looking at the buffet of options that other municipalities have done.”
Awsumb’s presentation was just the start of the process, which is expected to continue at least through the summer. The plan will eventually be presented at a public meeting for further input.
Also at the City Council meeting on Monday night:
* The council approved a change to its ward boundaries, involving the 1st and 5th wards. Data from the 2020 census highlighted that the variance in population between the wards was in excess of the 10% legal limit. The new ward boundaries were approved by a 5-1 vote, with 5th Ward Ald. Charlie Melidosian voting against the measure.
* The council also received an update on the timeline for replacing 7th Ward Ald. Marty Joyce, who is moving out of Park Ridge at the end of the month. City Clerk Sal Raspanti noted that he has received 11 applications from people living in the 7th Ward, and he’ll form a citizen’s committee this week to interview the applicants. The committee will make a recommendation that will be brought to the full City Council for approval.