By Elizabeth Yellen
Special to Inside
A contentious battle over zoning is raging around N. Wells St., as neighbors dispute the wisdom of maintaining current zoning regulations versus lobbying the city to downzone, or make current zoning laws stricter. In effect, the battle pits longtime residents of the area against more recent transplants, and each faction accuses the other of acting out of personal financial interest.
The catalyst for the current battle was a proposal to tear down a structure at 1419 N. Wells St. and erect a nine-story residential building on the lot. "This sort of triggered our awareness of the possibility of a proliferation of large buildings on N. Wells St.," said Stanton A. Kessler, a N. LaSalle St. resident. Kessler, who is president of the newly formed South Old Town Neighbor Alliance (SOTNA), is a leader of the downzoning movement. He and other members of his organization contend that large buildings obliterate the street's quaintness while also blocking the natural light cherished by many residents.
"We'd like to curtail Walls St. from Wells St.," said Robert Garrison, a downzoning proponent who has lived on N. LaSalle St. for two years. "The entire street is a very important asset to the area," Kessler said. Thus his organization would like to change existing rules, which do not limit the height of new buildings, so that buildings could not exceed four stories, or approximately 45 ft.
According to Kessler, the city's Department of Planning and Development has said it would likely recommend a law limiting structures to six or seven stories, or 65 ft. This imposition would satisfy the Planning Department because SOTNA's solution would mean that a significant percentage of existing buildings were noncompliant and landowners could sue. The city's plan, Kessler said, would preclude such lawsuits.
However, Kessler pointed out that some of the non-conforming buildings would actually violate both zoning laws. He believes that the real issue is the threat of a lawsuit by landowners who have held property for a long time and oppose downzoning because they do not want to forgo the right to sell to developers for sizable profits. Kessler's movement has garnered considerable support; more than 1,300 residents signed a petition requesting downzoning, and a hold has been placed on the development of 1419 N. Wells St.
To Peter O'Brien and other longtime Old Town residents, though, the zoning issue is not a question of profit or of preserving a particular aspect of the neighborhood. Rather, it is a question of retaining the area's dynamic character. O'Brien is owner of O'Brien's Restaurant, which his family opened in the 1970s, as well as a landlord to other businesses. He said that he is not only a second-generation restaurant owner, but also a member of the second generation in the quest to improve Old Town. Noting that his father helped to rid the area of gangs and crime, "The struggle to make this area viable is a lifelong one," O'Brien said.
The outgoing president of the Old Town Merchants and Residents Association and a leader of a new organization called Wells Street Property Owners, O'Brien is leading the campaign against downzoning. O'Brien asserts that downzoning will have a negative financial impact in both the short and long terms. "We think the neighborhood should stay the way it is," he said. "Businesses need a diverse group of residents to attract so they're a viable
business community, like a village. If you stop the development in the area now, it will have the effect of cutting off the viability of the community seven, eight, ten years in the future."
O'Brien believes that the advocates of downzoning think that the area cannot support more buildings. In contrast, O'Brien and his supporters argue that Old Town is an inner-city neighborhood with excellent public transportation and that there is no neighborhood in Chicago with an infrastructure better poised [for development] than Old Town's. "I think some people who have come in don't want to see new condos because
the value of their own properties will fall," O'Brien said.
The zoning dispute has become so contentious as to include mudslinging in the form of anonymous and pseudonymous letters. Caught in the middle are not one, but two aldermen, Vi Daley (43rd) and Walter Burnett Jr. (27th). Due to redistricting, Daley's ward now encompasses the east side of Wells St. to Schiller, then both sides of Wells. The west side of Wells St. falls in Burnett's domain.
Both aldermen are working with the Planning Department and concerned neighborhood groups, which also include the Near North Property Owners Association, Old Town Triangle Association and Near North Preservation Coalition. These groups all favor downzoning. The Old Town Merchants and Residents Association has not taken an official stance. 'We're still doing our homework on the issue," said the Association's Executive Director, Paula Barrington.
The challenge for the aldermen has been to strike a balance between the two factions. "I'm between a rock and a hard spot," is how Burnett expressed his frustration and trying to orchestrate a compromise. "These folks [lifelong residents] have tried to build up the neighborhood and are now encountering new neighbors who want to change it." As one who grew up in the area, Burnett can see both sides of the issue.
Daley too has been working intensely to broker a compromise. Late last year, having been approached by concerned residents, she sought assistance from the Planning Department, which is currently redoing building codes for the entire city. With the department's help, she returned to the Old Town organizations a plan that calls for scaling back each zone by one step. She has not yet received detailed responses from the organizations and plans to revisit the issue with them in the fall. In addition, at the July 29 City Council meeting, Daley introduced an ordinance calling for the downzoning of a portion of the area between Division and Goethe streets. She proposed this change because of concerns about what could be built in that location. She stressed that this ordinance has yet to be approved by the city's Zoning Committee.
The committee will reconvene in September, said Pete Scales, a spokesman for the Department of Planning and Development. "I certainly think we need to work out something," said Daley, who has lived in the neighborhood for 36 years. "I certainly don't want to destroy anyone's property value, but I'm also concerned about the character of the street." She added that she wants to "make sure [that Old Town] is still a great neighborhood to live in."
|
