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Alderman Mary Ann Smith
5533 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL 60640
Phone: (773) 784-5277
Fax: (773) 784-5033
info@masmith48.org
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Room 300
Chicago, IL 60602
Phone: (312) 744-6860
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48th Ward Zoning and Planning Committee
October 26, 2005 Meeting Minutes
Greg Harris, 48th Ward chief of staff, gave the Ward update update. He said that he had received questions regarding the parking lot next to St. Andrew's Greek Orthodox Church on Sheridan. That parcel was included in the Sheridan Road downzoning. He explained that any proposed development on that site would go through many layers of process, both in the community and at city hall.
5846 N. Glenwood: Jim Byrne presented his request for a zoning change from RT3.5 to RT4 so that the height of the proposed structures can be increased to 38 ft. instead of 35 ft. to allow more ceiling height in units. This also would allow an increase in Floor Area Ratio from 1.05 to 1.20. The proposal is to construct four townhomes and one duplex condominium unit located over the garage. Parking would be provided for all units. Architect is Brian Milbury. Two abstentions were noted, but the proposal was approved by all members who voted.
5863 N. Glenwood: George Brown requested a zoning change from RT3.5 to RT4 to allow the operation of a guest house. A bed and breakfast use is permitted in RT4 but not in RT3.5. There were no "no" votes.
6212 N. Winthrop: Attorney Ed Kus presented a proposal to grant alley access for an eight unit condominium building in an R6 area. Developers are Gerry Kerry and George Nugent, Kilkee Builders. The proposal was tabled at the September meeting to give the Granville Task Force an opportunity to review the plans. GTF indicated they had met with the developer and approved the proposal. NEBA had expressed some concerns in a letter to the developers. A motion was made to approve the request for alley access if the items in the letter were accepted. No one opposed the motion.
September 27, 2005 Meeting Minutes
Scott Goldstein, vice president of policy and planning for the Metropolitan Planning Council, provided a summary of the findings of the Technical Assistance Panel that studied Clark Street. The intensive two-day study was conducted September 14 and 15 by panelists from the Urban Land Institute and the Metropolitan Planning. Council. He said that the panel considered Clark Street in several segments: the heart of Andersonville, North Andersonville extending south to Gethsemane Gardens, and Clark Street north to Devon. He observed that north Clark needs character, possibly a median, parkway, landscaping. He advocated preservation of some 400 units of affordable housing that exist on Clark Street. He said that the panel advised being proactive on retaining and enhancing the small business retail character of the heart of Andersonville.
62312 N. Winthrop: Joe Gatuso, attorney, presented a proposal for an eight-unit, four-story condominium building in an R6 area. Developer is 6212 N. Winthrop LLC. The development needs alley access. Pat Sharkey, Edgewater North Neighbors, moved that consideration be deferred until the Granville Task Force has an opportunity to review the proposal. The motion passed 11 to 7.July 18, 2005 Meeting Minutes
A series of questions was presented to the committee to enable delegates to create a 48th Ward policy on a Chicago Partnership for Affordable Neighborhoods (CPAN) set aside. This was a continuation from the June 29 special Z&P meeting on creating a CPAN policy. The first vote at the July 19 meeting was taken on whether to establish a policy. Fifteen responded yes and 6 no. Then the group was asked about which projects should include a CPAN requirement. The consensus by a vote of 26 to 7 was that a 10 percent CPAN set aside should be required in developments of 10 units or greater when an upzoning or Planned Development is needed. Then the committee considered what percentage of the set aside should be made available in a lottery to local residents. The agreement was 50 percent with 17 delegates voting to limit lottery participants to the 48th Ward and 13 voting that lottery applicants should come from Edgewater and Uptown. A proposal to require a contribution from developers of less than 10 units was withdrawn pending further study. A motion was made to require developers of 10 units or more where an upzoning or Planned Development is required to set aside 10 percent of the units for CPAN. That the CPAN buyers to determined by lottery with 50 percent coming from the 48th Ward and 50 percent city wide (including 48th Ward residents who were not successful in the first lottery). The question of density bonuses was raised but no recommendation was added to the motion since the city has created the bonuses only for downtown properties. The motion passed with 23 in favor and 12 opposed. Greg Harris, 48th Ward chief of staff, will research the question of zoning bonuses and the Low Income Housing Trust Fund as an option for contributions from developers.
Greg reported on the Sheridan Board rezoning proposal was heard but not voted on by the City Council Committee on Zoning. The proposal seeks to rezone underdeveloped parcels on Sheridan that could possibly be developed as high rise sites under current zoning. The ordinances call for a change from R6 to R5.5 north of Hollywood and from B4-4 to B4-3 from Hollywood to Foster. These changes would limit height of new construction on most buildable lots to 6 stories. Greg also presented a possible amendment to rezone the B areas to B2-3 so that all residential buildings rather than buildings with commercial space on the first floor could be built without a special use. There are several lots where development proposals are currently being considered where Planned Development status probably would be required. These are not currently included in the rezoning proposal. A motion to adopt the proposal to rezone the recommended underdeveloped lots on Sheridan was unanimously approved. Approval of the rezoning will be recommended by Alderman Smith to the Committee on Zoning.
5800 N. Glenwood: The committee next heard a previously tabled proposal to develop a 6-unit condominium on a wedge-shaped property at Ridge and Glenwood currently used as a parking lot. Developers Tim Cochran and David Krug need a special use to build an all-residential building in a B zone, a rear-yard exception to reduce the required 45 feet to 40 feet, an exception to the minimum lot area from 1,000 square feet to 930 square feet, a height exception to erect a 48.8-foot instead of a 45-foot building, and a curb cut on Glenwood. Tom Moore, attorney, represented the developers. A letter was presented outlining the reasons the BARGE block club opposed the development. ETNA, Edgewater Community Council and Edgewater Development Corporation all indicated approval. ECC and EDC indicated they had worked with the developer to improve the Glenwood elevation of the building to make the façade more pedestrian-friendly and compatible with the street. A motion to approve the special use and exceptions was passed with 18 in favor and 3 opposed.
5206 N. Broadway: Garrett Realty Group proposed building a 100-unit mixed-use condominium building with parking on the site formerly occupied by the Piser Funeral Home. This would be a Planned Development. The façade of the corner building at Foster and Broadway would be incorporated into the new development. The developers, represented by Attorney Gary Wigoda, explained that originally they had envisioned a 78-unit building with underground parking, but that plan would not have worked economically. Then they proposed a development with a parking structure on the site. The community was opposed to the parking structure. They then determined that 110 units and 45,000 feet of commercial/retail space were necessary to make underground parking feasible. The building would be five stories. Two site plans were presented to the committee, one with alley access and one without alley access as requested by neighbors on the 5200 block of Magnolia and LBRC. Several delegates expressed their organization's support for alley access. A traffic study will be done by the city because of the Planned Development status of the project. A motion was made to approve the site plan that did not provide alley access. The motion passed by a vote of 19 to 1. The developers had previously agreed to a five percent set aside for CPAN. Committee members requested that the minutes reflect this agreement was reached prior to establishment of a 48th Ward CPAN policy and should not be considered a precedent.