THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 2008
Schmidt: Zoning Change 'At Heart and Soul of Town'
By CRAIG ADAMS
Journal Reporter
A proposed change to the Park Ridge zoning ordinance has residents and one alderman worried about the expansion of condominium buildings in the city.
"It's a frightening thought," said Ald. David Schmidt (1st). "They're expanding the definition of what the central business district is." The city's Planning and Zoning Commission plans to examine the proposal at a meeting on Monday, Apr. 28.
Currently, the city's ordinance allows R-5 zoning in or adjacent to the B-4 Uptown Business District. Staff has recommended changing the wording to allow it in or adjacent to the central business district.
R-5 zoning allows 29 dwelling units per acre of land. The city last November granted a variance in the zoning at Executive Office Plaza allowing a development with 30 units per acre.
"The R-5s were supposed to be limited to the very center of town," Schmidt said. "This is another battle between the residents and the developers. It's not an abstract issue; this is for the heart and soul of the town."
When questioned about the change, Carrie Davis, the acting community preservation and development director, said changing the R-5 ordinance is only one of several amendments coming before the commission on Apr. 28. She called the change a fix of a "typographical error." According to Davis, "The ordinance erroneously says... part of the district is part of the B-4 district; in fact, it's part of the central business district."
She further explained the central business district is a policy district as opposed to a zoning district. She did admit those boundaries were larger than the B-4 district.
Judy Barclay, of Citizens United to Retain Residential Balance began distributing a map in anticipation of the upcoming meeting. "We had 1,000 printed; we've already gone through about a third of them," she said. The map shows the current area that could be zoned R-5 and the expanded area that she claims could become large condominiums. She also complained that the existing ordinance is broader than intended.
"I was on the rewrite committee," she said, of the group that created the new zoning ordinance. "We were told (R-5) would be adjacent to the B-4 Uptown core." The core, according to Barclay, is the small area just north of six corners. "When they wrote it, unbeknownst to the committee, it came out B-4 Uptown business district." She explained that area encompasses parts of town as far north as Cedar Street, as far south as Crescent Avenue and stretching from Fairview Avenue to Washington Avenue.
According to Barclay, changing the ordinance would add several more parcels of land to the central area, taking it west to Cumberland and to Hinkley Park on the north and west. In addition, the words "adjacent to" in the ordinance would allow R-5 zoning in what are now residential areas anywhere around that district. "They want highest and densest usage there," she said.
Davis said there is no distance defined as adjacent in the ordinance. "There's no determined area. It just depends what property is adjacent to the district." She added that she has not yet finalized the text amendment to the ordinance, as it will not come before the commission until Apr. 28. "I'm still working on this," she said.
Barclay wants the Commission to remove the "adjacent" clause from the ordinance, limiting the R-5 zoning to a certain geographic region. Schmidt would like a more drastic step.
"My overall position is, there should be no R-5 district," he said. "Our town is already overdeveloped with condos." Schmidt said the city currently has several approved projects that are on hold. "There's a condo glut in the metropolitan Chicago area," he said. "Building more condos is unnecessary."
Barclay worries about 10 story tall condominium buildings alongside current residential areas. "There's nothing in the ordinance to prevent that," she said.
Schmidt said, "I'll be opposing any expansion at all of the R-5. I would be more than happy to see the R-5 abolished in its entirety." He added, "Our Web site says that Park Ridge has small town charm. Cities with small town charm don't have built up high-rise condos ringing the downtown area."