All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I quantified how many lots in Oak Park qualify for the village's coach house rule. I cannot quantify it for Chicago because there's no rule yet.

Nevertheless, I am designing my own rule about legalizing coach houses & ADUs, and I can test and quantify that rule when I'm done developing it.

Thanks for the shoutout @David Des about my website

Downzoning to single-family only is a bad idea; it means that a 2-flat owner who wants to build an addition must get a zoning change. It means that a 2-flat owner who wants to build a basement unit must get a zoning change. 

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What does it matter what coach houses look like? They're all in the alley, invisible from the street. All of the ones in Chicago were built before ~1957 (unless they were built without a permit, in which case they could have been built afterwards). Have you seen new ones in other cities? Look up laneway houses in Vancouver (which has a cottage industry of high-design ADU architects like Lanefab), and ADUs in Austin, Denver, Portland, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. 

The petition isn't only about re-legalizing coach houses. It's also to support ADUs, which come in all shapes and sizes. What's not explicitly said in the petition is that there needs to be a "re-opening" of residential capacity, as controlled by the zoning maps, in our neighborhoods to allow 2-flats to be built where they used to be built but are currently banned. 

Many Chicago neighborhoods (mostly those on the north and northwest sides) have been "downzoned", where the zoning map has been changed from a higher-density zone (most commonly RT-4) to a lower-density zone (most commonly RS-3). 

In some instances, the alders have done this by request of residents who want to "protect" the "character" of their blocks. Historically, this has meant many things, including controlling what kind of person (be they poor or someone of color) is allowed to live in the neighborhood. Some residents say they want the downzoning to use to control the design of future condo buildings. 

In either case, what downzoning does is lead to a gradual decline in population density, as 2-flats and 3-flats are replaced by single-family houses (either through demolition or deconversion) in higher-income areas. 

Note: I only have GIS zoning maps from 2012 to present, so it's next to impossible to analyze which areas have changed residential capacity via zoning and when they changed. The Harold Washington Library center, and the planners at City Hall, have older zoning maps on file. 

I'm really curious if anyone has experience building small units like rear houses and coach houses (they're legal in Oak Park). 

Once they're re-legalized in Chicago there's going to be some immediate interest in people who can pay cash or get HELOC loans - are GCs ready for this?

You can request a zoning certificate from the Department of Planning & Development (sometimes referred to as the "zoning department", even though zoning is one of many things they're responsible for managing). The certificate is $125 and can be later used as proof (when applying for permits, or when selling) that there are 3 dwelling units. 

What do you mean by "coded as a single family house"?

Even if a multi-unit is in a single-family zoning district, the multi-unit was most likely built legally before the current single-family zoning district was applied. PM me and I can confidentially review the location for you. 

I second the Cook County Land Bank Authority (CCLBA) suggestion. The have the ability to clean titles and wipe taxes, to make it easier to resell. They also have existing infrastructure (staff and procedures) to select contractors to rehab (if CCLBA chooses to do that directly), or to resell the properties on the CCLBA's website or to developers.

Call or email the executive director, Rob Rose. The CCLBA is also known for being creative and a donation like this seems to be very creative.