CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Mayor Lori Lightfoot says she’ll go forward with a crackdown on industrial polluters, despite some aldermanic reluctance.
An ordinance putting more regulations on industries moving into neighborhoods stalled in a City Council committee Tuesday, but Mayor Lightfoot said she is not concerned.
"Well first of all, it is not a failure," she said. "We plan to absolutely move forward with it. I am confident that we will get it passed."
But some Aldermen echoed complaints from businesspeople that development will be stifled. The Mayor scoffed at that.
"At some of the specious things that are being said that there will never be more development in the city, obviously untrue; that people won't be able to build on spec, obviously untrue," Lightfoot said.
She also said it’s not a power grab.
"This isn't about aldermanic prerogative or power. It is about making sure that residents are protected, and that they have fair notice when someone is coming into their neighborhood, who potentially could danger their health through air quality issues," she said.
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The Mayor said residents and Aldermen need a say in what comes into their neighborhoods.
“This notion of, 'Oh, my goodness. The sky is falling. We will never have development again in the city of Chicago,' really is insulting to the intelligence of us all...What we’re trying to accomplish is the same level of oversight that happens with gas stations. They haven’t gone out of business. They haven’t stopped opening up in the city of Chicago,” the Mayor said.