Officials in La Grange Park are uniting in opposition to a state initiative that aims to address housing shortages in Illinois, amid concerns the legislation would take zoning authority away from local leaders.
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Legislation associated with the Build Up Illinois Developments initiative is pending in the Illinois General Assembly, including state-mandated zoning requirements, among other bills addressing housing.
By a unanimous vote, the La Grange Park Board of Trustees recently approved a measure supporting municipalities retaining zoning authority.
“The big issue down there is the housing and the zoning,” La Grange Park President James Discipio said after returning from the Illinois Municipal League sponsored Lobby Day.
Discipio acknowledged the problem of the housing shortage throughout Illinois, but is not in favor of giving up local control.
“The problem is that they’re exerting state control,” he said. “And that shouldn’t happen. Villages and communities and local governments should not be told how to zone their properties by the state.”
Among the bills under consideration is House Bill 5626, which would allow “by right” up to four units on lots from 2,500 to 5,000 square feet, six dwelling units on lots from 5,000 to 7,500 square feet, and eight dwelling units on lots more than 7,500 square feet.
“If it passes, a person that lives in the middle of the block of residential homes can sell his home to the highest bidder to put up a two or three story building right in the middle of the block,” Discipio said. “To impose upon local government and say ‘we want to be in control of your zoning.’ That’s crazy.”
Discipio said local governments are free to change their zoning codes as needed.
“If Oak Park or somebody else needs more zoning for homes then rezone it,” he said. “They have the right to do that.”
Senate Bill 4064, if enacted, maintains that no municipality can require developers to provide more than .5 automobile parking spaces per multi-family dwelling unit or more than one automobile parking space per single-family home. The state law would put other limits on parking requirements as well.
Current La Grange Park Code requires two spaces per unit in a multi-family dwelling.
La Grange Park board members were clear in their opposition to the proposed changes.
“It’s inconceivable to me that the state is considering taking over local zoning control,” Trustee Mike Sheehan said. “If this power grab passes, from what I have read, it could drastically change the look to residential neighborhoods. Zoning is best left to local control.”
Trustee Joe Caputo agreed.
“The state might have a cookie cutter standard for what works down in southern Illinois or somewhere else for this town,” he said. “I feel like we need to have control of our zoning for our community.”
Caputo said if residents have a problem with state-mandated zoning decisions, they’ll likely sound off to village officials.
“They’re not going to go to the state and complain,” he said. “They’re going to come and locally complain if things don’t go in their direction.”
Trustee Bob Lautner said that he understood the problem of a state housing shortage and was willing to work with state lawmakers. But he said local officials were more qualified to make the correct decisions for their communities.
“Communities are just far too different,” he said. “There’s no way the state can be as close as local municipalities are to make the decisions that La Grange Park has done over the years to make the appropriate adjustments in planning and all things that go into a viable community.”
The next La Grange Park Village Board meeting will be 7:30 p.m. May 12, in the Village Board Room, 447 N. Catherine Ave.
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Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.