The Right Place

To be clear, the discussion is not really about the size of buildings or houses, whether condos or co-ops, or about parking or traffic and pedestrian patterns. It’s about long-standing neighbors and new neighbors coming together to agree on a plan that respects the well-being of the neighborhood, and working with City Council leadership to build that plan.

My friend Sue did not mind getting new neighbors, she minded losing her light and her backyard view.

It’s really about an open dialogue between the alderman and the residents of a neighborhood. Any conversation about development will have different points of view and disagreements. It is the alderman’s job to host and encourage a dialogue and lead the conversation toward some kind of consensus.

I’ve talked with many residents, aldermen and aldermanic candidates about this and there are some alderman who are looked to for “best practices.” Gene Schulter (47) was cited to me time and time again. This is not an endorsement. That’s simply what I have heard.

As Zoning Attorneys Warren and Stacey Rubin Silver told me If no zoning variance is needed, it is a basic freedom in this country that a property owner can do what he or she likes with her property. They say that the Aldermen and developers they work with do a good job of obeying the letter of the law and in many cases going beyond it. It's the going beyond we need a lot more of....

Let's give aldermen a taste of what they dish out By Sally Duros My friend Sue is mad as hell and she won't take it anymore!

But in truth there's nothing she can do.

"When the house next door was sold," Sue says, "it was on a 50-foot
lot, and the developer subdivided it." She says the backs and
fronts of the two large houses that stand there now extend beyond
the depth of her vintage home.

"It cuts off light," she says. "I am looking at a brick wall where
I used to look at my neighbor's back yard." And what's worse, "You
don't find out about it until it's been done."

Sue, who lives on Chicago's Northwest Side asked not to be
identified, but stories like hers are being repeated in
neighborhoods all over Chicago as the aldermanic elections
approach. Sue didn't know the house next door had been sold, and
she didn't seek help from her alderman, who is very "old" school.
She didn't think he would have assisted. Besides, "by then it was
too late. There's no point," she says.

Sue isn't alone.

The 250 candidates running for Chicago's 50 aldermanic seats in the
Feb. 27 election understand that, and they've armed themselves with
statements on how they will best serve residents and their
neighborhoods.

Included in that, we're sure to hear much about Chicago's zoning
ordinance.

Chicago has been gradually shifting to allow denser development on
residential lots since 1998, and you can see this in successive
iterations of the zoning ordinance, says Stacey Rubin Silver, a
planner and attorney who works with her husband, Warren, in their
firm Silver Law Offices.

Sue's culprit -- if you should choose to view it that way and Rubin
Silver doesn't -- is the maximum "floor area ratio," or FAR,
allowed for each type of residential structure in Chicago.

In Sue's case, her house is on a lot in an area zoned RS-3. A new
property owner can build whatever he desires on a lot if no zoning
change is needed, Rubin Silver says, as long as he complies with
classification rules related to yards, parking and open space.

Sue and some of her neighbors would like to downzone their ward to
RS-2 from RS-3 so new redevelopment would retain more of the
original character of the neighborhood. Downzoning proceeds just
like a zoning change sought by a developer except it is instead
initiated by the alderman on behalf of the residents.

But Sue and her neighbors don't believe their current alderman
would be responsive to their idea."It seems like there isn't a lot
of transparency, and people don't know that there will be a
development next door until the bulldozers show up," Sue says. "If
you had a responsive alderman who had lots of block meetings, maybe
it would make a difference."

If your current alderman isn't responsive, I say respond by voting
someone else in.

Your alderman can act with a heavy thumb to a zoning issue --on
behalf of either developer or resident. It's how the alderman
"sways" that makes residents either happy or sad.

"Zoning is very democratic with a small 'd,' in a good sense,"
zoning attorney Warren Silver says. "The way the process is set up
it gives a lot of sway to the alderman. I think that's a good thing
because by and large it empowers the community."

The role of an "empowered" community in this complex transaction
that I'll call "Building the Neighborhood We Want," is to elect an
alderman who will be an honest steward of the responsibility
awarded. That means working with us in partnership.

It's a big picture approach.

Many aldermen have held power over several re-elections by handing
out chits of favor and influence and by skillfully exercising
aldermanic privilege.

This tactical rather than strategic approach is like junk food. It
takes the edge off hunger but doesn't nourish you. Chicagoans are
ready for better. I wager come election day, voters like my friend
Sue might give back to their aldermen a taste of what they've been
dishing out.

sduros@suntimes.com

- - -

The Chicago municipal election is Tuesday, Feb. 27, but you can
vote today at an early voting site.

For more information, go to www.suntimes.com/webconnect and find
links to:

- Chicago Zoning Department, where you can see how your block is
zoned.

- Chicago City Council

- Chicago Board of Elections

- The Right Place, our blog