If you want to see what could happen on your block under proposed rezoning, enter your address on rezoning.yesoakpark.com. If you live in a bungalow, they can build a 4-unit, 3-story, 35-foot-high structure on your block. Minimum lot width is 30 feet, maximum building height is 35. Maximum building coverage is removed so it can be built all the way to the street, eliminating what is already a small backyard and parking for up to four families. Under the new code, vehicle parking minimums would be zero, village wide! So developers would not have to provide a garage or onsite parking.
We didn’t move from the city to have the residential quality of Oak Park changed. I urge everyone to get involved. Attend Plan Commission meetings. The new codes have only been done in a few sites. The CEO of Opticus in his book Missing Middle Housing cites Oak Park as one of the best examples in the country, so why are we doing this if we have so many apartments already?
Diana Jacobs
Oak Park