Multiple community members spoke at Oak Park’s village board meeting on July 14 to call for a referendum on proposed updates to the zoning code which could eliminate single-family zones.
Trustee James Taglia, seconded by Trustee Cory Wesley, will offer a motion to consider an advisory referendum at the July 21 board meeting. The board will vote to approve or deny the zoning change recommendation from Opticos Design, a consulting firm, on July 28.
Opticos Design was hired as a consultant to the village to recommend how to change the zoning code to help increase “missing middle” housing and address affordability and density issues. The buildings which might be favored if the zoning was changed would have multiple units such as small apartment buildings and duplexes. The recommendation comes after the firm completed a study with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus to find how “zoning standards can shape real development opportunities” according to the website.
Village Attorney Greg Smith clarified at the meeting that a binding referendum, in which the vote would have a legal effect on the village, is not possible for this issue per the Illinois Constitution. An advisory referendum, which has no legal effect but gives insight into public opinion, is allowed.
Taglia said at the meeting that he welcomes the advisory referendum route.
“I think it represents a lower bar for this board to accept in order to allow public input, and it represents a gauge that we can use, that we can assess whether the public is more or less, first of all, educated about this, second of all, informed that they’re all willing to approve such a measure,” Taglia said.
Village President Vicki Scaman said it would take “considerable thought” to write a referendum question that would encompass the nuance in the conversation and not further confuse the public on this issue and the goals of the board. After the public comment portion of the meeting, she said she feels there is some miscommunication about the proposal and the board is “far more aligned” with those that oppose it than many think.
“It’s too broadly being thought of as a broad stroke of getting rid of single-family zoning across our entire community without any consideration for what our goals are,” said Scaman. “I think that I think that this board is putting more thought into it than that would insinuate.”
Most speakers during the public comment shared similar messages calling for more input from the community and for more communication about the impacts of these plans and questioning if changing zoning would produce the desired results.
“This is not simply a policy decision. It is a decision about the physical framework of nearly every residential neighborhood in Oak Park,” said Kimberlee Smith, owner of Smith Architecture, during the meeting. “On questions of such permanence, I believe the strongest foundation is public trust.”
Some speakers completely opposed eliminating single-family zoning.
Jakob Eriksson, an Oak Park resident, called it a “monumental mistake” that shouldn’t be considered and would negatively impact the quality of life for current homeowners.
“Village hall’s duty is to act in the interest of the current residents. It’s not to make Oak Park less desirable so that others can afford to move in,” said Eriksson.
On the opposite side, resident John Jenks encouraged the board to vote to approve the recommendation to “get the ball rolling on zoning reform” as his biggest concern is affordability.
“We voted for you to make decisions, so go ahead,” Jenks said at the meeting.
Craig Failor, Oak Park’s development services director, presented an update on community engagement efforts in partnership with Opticos Design for the project plans. He said they are looking at six future events and developing a comparison tool for property owners to see how the zoning change could affect them.
There is currently information about the project on the Engage Oak Park website and the Missing Middle Housing Toolkit is available on the Opticos website.
Scaman pushed for the actual recommendation proposal to be released to the public ahead of the July 28 meeting earlier than it typically would be so residents can access the information.
“I’m reading every single email that I get” said Scaman. “We’d love for them to get more information out there that speaks to affordability, that speaks to a diverse community, that speaks to addressing where housing gaps are. There’s lot more communication that needs to be shared.”
If the board votes to approve the recommendation, it would still have to go before the Plan Commission and any actual changes would not actually be implemented until at least October.