CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The Chicago City Council Zoning Committee approved a proposal strengthening rules that encourage developers to build affordable housing near existing public transit.
City Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara said that while Lightfoot administration has been working to get affordable housing built near existing public transportation, most of it’s been built on the North Side, with a little bit built on the West Side.
The proposed new ordinance, Novara said, aims to see more projects on the South and West Sides.
“For the first time we are requiring an up or down vote on developments that include affordable housing in areas near transit that lack affordability,” Novara said. “This is how we give more choices across the entire city to where people can live affordably.”
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Novara and Leslè Honorè, with the Center for Neighborhood Technology, said a high priority is ensuring those transit options — and any ways to access them — are safe.
Although the City Council Zoning Committee approved the new Transit Oriented Development ordinance in a 15-to-4 vote, the debate was long. Some members questioned a time limit on votes, while others objected to language dealing with gentrification.
Alderman David Moore pointed out previous rules on affordable housing near transit lines didn’t spark any development in Englewood.
City Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara asked Moore to consider the development that has taken place in Auburn Gresham. Development is coming there. Moore was among those voting in favor of the ordinance.
The measure will go before the full City Council Wednesday.
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