I am writing to draw public attention to radical plans that have been proposed and are being actively contemplated by policymakers, which have the potential to transform Oak Park itself: our streetscapes, historic districts, and neighborhoods.
On July 23, the Oak Park Village Board heard a presentation by Craig Failor, village planner, and Emily Egan, development services director, with several proposals for eliminating historically zoned single-family-only residential districts in order to allow two-family, three-family, and in some cases four-family dwellings to be built in residential neighborhoods. These multifamily dwellings could take the form of townhouses, duplexes, and triplexes.
Trustee Cory Wesley expressed a desire to change Oak Park’s bulk standards (which are regulations that govern what can be built on property lots based on zoning districts and which include minimum lot area, lot width, setbacks, maximum building height, maximum building coverage, maximum impervious surface) in order to permit larger and taller structures to be built in residential neighborhoods than are currently allowed.
Additionally, Trustee Brian Straw expressed a belief that Oak Park’s historic districts should be reduced in size because, in his view, their current boundaries are unjustifiably far from buildings of real historic interest. He did not opine with confidence about where the new boundaries of the historic districts should be and speculated that perhaps boundaries set a quarter mile from buildings of real historic interest could be adequate.
The meeting resulted in the village staff being tasked with incorporating board feedback into their proposals, which I assume will result in another presentation to the board at some point in the future.
Were the proposed zoning changes to be implemented, Oak Park homeowners — some of whom already are at risk for a neighboring property being torn down and replaced with a very large house dwarfing their own — would be at additional risk of having instead a multifamily building or buildings built instead on that same property, dramatically changing the nature of their immediate surroundings.
Unlike the chronology of events involving the village board’s decision about leaf removal — wherein most Oak Park homeowners didn’t even know that the village board had been contemplating changes to the practice of fall leaf removal until after the board had already voted to implement them — the village board has not yet voted on the zoning changes proposed by Oak Park’s staff and may not yet have forged a general agreement about which changes they will pursue and which they won’t.
And there appeared to be no concurrence by other members of the board, at least in public, to the proposals put forth by trustees Wesley and Straw.
In short, the village board’s deliberations still appear to be fluid, so if you have an opinion or concern about any of the proposed zoning changes, bulk standards changes, or changes to the boundaries of Oak Park’s historic districts, now is the time to speak if you want your voice heard while there is still time for you to make a difference.
An organized and aggressive lobby has been advocating for these proposed changes, and their shrill, strident voices may be the only ones that the village board has been hearing.
Adrian Marquez is a resident of Oak Park.