REQUESTS FOR RELIEF
Address: 1819 W. Greenleaf
Request: Zoning amendment from RS2 to RS3
Owner(s): Grace and Nathan Hess
Representatives Present: Grace and Nathan Hess
Decision by ZALUAC: Recommendation that the Alderman grant the request.
Details of Discussion: This block was recently down-zoned. Numerous homeowners requested that their properties be exempted from the down-zoning and those requests were granted. Due to serious health matters, the Hess family was not present at any of the community meetings that occurred before the down-zoning or the meeting requesting the exemption. Now that the medical issue is resolving, they have come forth to request the same exemption granted to their neighbors.
The committee members discussed the fact that the home was not architecturally significant and that the construction of something new on the site would not negatively affect the character of the block.
BLOGNOTES: If Honest Abe Lincoln was born in a house that was located in the 49th ward, these ZULAC bozo's would find a way to call it, "not architecturally significant."
7 comments:
Community-Wide Process Comes to a Successful Close
Before the election, Moore bragged on his list of down-zonings.
After the Election, he reverses them!
Zoning in Chicago is nothing if not fluid.
What does it mean that that area got downzoned?
nevermind i looked it up.
what i don't understand is that if down-zoning would prevent taller buildings to be built in that area, how does their request to be exempt from being included differ from the other owners who also asked to be exempt. Am i missing something obvious?
My understanding is that they had their opportunity to speak up and they were otherwise occupied. Now it has to be treated as a separate issue of undoing the previous zoning that requires approval.
My boss went thru a similar deal in Uptown where they refused to upzone the property. I haven't looked at the property yet, so I don't have an opinion about its value. If the surrounding neighbors put up a big fuss, I suppose it's possible thre upzone could be stopped.
1819 Greenleaf is not a listed property on the Chicago Landmark's Historic Resources Survey. As such, it is not accorded any special consideration as an "architecturally significant structure."
There are structures on Greenleaf that are listed, like 1910 Greenleaf, which is classified as "Orange," the second highest classification.
Down-zoning is a tool that communities can use to control the scale of development and character of a neighborhood. However, down-zoning does reduce the property's value, and government initiated down zoning has been ruled by the courts as a "taking" and can result in damages being awarded to the owner.
Accordingly, lacking a clear demonstrable benefit to the community, local governments are disinclined to down-zone a property over the objections of the owner.
In this specific case, the owners were unable to participate in the community-based hearings over zoning changes, and requested exemption after the fact.
1819 Greenleaf is not listed on the Chicago Landmark's Historic Resources Survey, and is therefore not afforded any special consideration as "architecturally significant."
As a point of reference, 1910 Greenleaf is listed as "orange," the second highest level, making it a property that could be eligible for historic preservation assistance.
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