The Chicago City Council voted 46-0 on Sept. 25 to allow “granny flats” citywide, a compromise deal that gave Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) local veto power over new units.
Long-sought concessions gained by Quinn include giving aldermen the chance to prohibit the accessory dwelling units in their wards.
“The ordinance I introduced, that ultimately was part of the compromise, says that in R1-to-3 single-family residential classification zones, the only way an ADU could happen is if the local alder opted into the program.” Quinn said. “That certification is the first part of it. The second part of the ordinance that passed would be that if you’re doing a new construction coach house, the applicant contractor/sub-contractor has to be associated with an apprentice program to grow apprentice opportunities for our young kids in the trades.”
Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd) supported Quinn’s amended language.
“We need to protect these single-family homes,” she said. “These ADUs, building out the garage, the attic, the basement; that is not going to help my ward specifically because the majority of the residences in my ward are single-family homes.”
Tabares expressed her thanks to Quinn for arranging the compromise noting his inclusion of a union labor component as well.
Quinn said the blanket city-wide ADU proposal was not equitable, which prompted him to take the fight to the mayor.
“Under the proposal I sponsored that passed yesterday, ADU’s will not be allowed in the 13th Ward for the foreseeable future,” he said. “What I hear from my residents are complaints about parking, garbage, rats, overcrowded schools and a police district with boundaries unchanged since 1968. We’re busting at the seams here. We’re going to add more density to the existing problems we have here? No.”
Turning a single-family home into a three-flat was not something 13th Ward residents wanted with the topic of new ADU construction now a national issue, according to the alderman.
“They’re talking about incentivizing this kind of construction in Congress so the idea that our labor unions would be on the curb in a brand new construction market in Chicago that prides itself on being a great union town, didn’t make any sense,” Quinn said.
Growing the Southwest Side middle class via home ownership rather than renting is important, he said.
“The other part that’s important to understand is that when you bring skilled labor into the equation the work will be done right,” Quinn noted. “If you bring a [Local] 134 electrician into the equation, you can be sure that electricity’s going to be done right.”
Aldermen are required to be notified of new ADU construction by the city via email, containing an applicant’s name and address, for business and commercial zones only, he said.
An ADU can only be built if an alderman passes a separate ordinance granting permission for an application to build, considered to be an “opt-in”, Quinn said.
Should an ADU idea come up in the 13th Ward, discussion on a block level to gain consensus would have to happen, he said, saying community opt-in is the essence of the passed ordinance.
The rare compromise was appreciated by the alderman.
“I was delighted to work with Alderman Bennett Lawson on the issue and I think we came to a good result,” he added. “Really appreciating that our city is made of 77 different communities, the one-size-fits-all solution the mayor wanted to do doesn’t work for the Southwest Side.”
Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) agrees the ordinance’s passage is a win-win situation due to its language allowing aldermanic prerogative.
“It prevents illegal conversions and other things we fight against in neighborhoods like ours on the Southwest Side,” he said. “We have a very different housing environment from Logan Square and Wicker Park.”
Lopez commended Quinn for working with aldermen and labor to achieve the ordinance’s enactment.
“We need to start moving,” he said. “We need to start building [in the city] and building up the tax base; that’s exactly what this [ordinance] does.”
Existing 15th Ward ADUs will likely be grandfathered in but due to the ward’s density, ADUs are not a priority for residents, Lopez said.
Illegal ADU conversions in neighborhoods like Brighton Park with one door serving as both entrance and exit concerns him, the alderman said.
“Ward residents want a reduction, actually, in all the illegal conversions that put peoples’ lives in jeopardy and that is where my focus is going to be,” Lopez stated. “Before we start approving ADUs we need to get on a universal footprint and start from there.”