Connected Communities Ordinance Passes Chicago City Council
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On Wednesday, July 20, 2022, the Chicago City Council passed what is popularly referred to as the Connected Communities Ordinance, but what is perhaps better described as a wide-ranging set of alterations to the city’s Zoning Regulations, known as the Municipal Code.
This Ordinance was sponsored by Mayor Lightfoot as well as four Alderpersons, including Maria Hadden (49th Ward) who represents much of the Rogers Park neighborhood.
As part of their marketing and educational campaign, the City put out a one-page summary of the new Ordinance and what it is intended to accomplish. These goals include:
- Strengthening affordability requirements and incentives, reducing barriers to moderate-cost housing, and protecting “naturally occurring” affordable housing in “high-cost and gentrifying neighborhoods”
- Expanding the reach of TOD areas into a larger cross-section of “lower and moderate-cost neighborhoods,” and lowering barriers to the creation of new housing in these areas
- Encouraging more sustainable and equitable development, and creating “welcoming streets” that are safer, healthier and more accessible across the entire city
The primary impact of the changes to the Municipal Code that have now been approved will be the significant expansion of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) rules to a much larger geographic area. The Ordinance has also elevated the importance of equity as a primary objective of the new TOD requirements.
While the Ordinance does not change any of the affordable requirements in the revamped ARO, passed in April of last year, it will provide TOD benefits to more of these developments by virtue of its larger geographic reach.
The primary impact of the changes to the Municipal Code that have now been approved will be the significant expansion of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) rules to a much larger geographic area.
(It is worth mentioning that RPBG and other housing provider organizations were opposed to last year’s changes to the ARO. None of those changes have been altered in the current Connected Communities Ordinance. However, the availability of zoning incentives in the larger geographical area that this new Ordinance creates may soften the burden of the ARO legislation, given that many more development sites now fall within the expanded TOD catchment area.)
So, how does the new Ordinance expand TOD? Two provisions accomplish this goal. The first is a provision that doubles the distance from CTA and Metra stations under TOD rules from 1,320 feet to 2,640 feet – exactly half a mile from these transit nodes. The second and even more significant is the expansion of TOD zoning to many addition bus routes previously excluded from these benefits. Prior to passage of the new Ordinance, only the most heavily used bus corridors fell under TOD requirements. The new list of bus routes includes most major mile and half-mile bus routes, both north to south and east to west, across the entire geography of Chicago.
The practical impact of the new Ordinance will be to make TOD benefits much more widely available on the South and West Sides, including many neighborhoods that have traditionally been under-served by CTA and Metra.
The other primary impact of the new Ordinance is to increase density in affected TOD areas, making it easier to construct higher-density residential buildings and to limit the construction of single family dwellings in these TOD area.
Many of the provisions of the new Ordinance will likely be viewed favorably, or at least neutrally, by members of RPBG and other housing provider organizations. It is notable that neither RPBG or the NBOA came out with any organized opposition to this Ordinance, although there was some dissatisfaction with limitations placed on single family development within TOD areas. Single family is both popular and profitable in many high-income areas. The Ordinance’s discouragement of this type of development runs counter to current market demand.
The practical impact of the new Ordinance will be to make TOD benefits much more widely available on the South and West Sides, including many neighborhoods that have traditionally been under-served by CTA and Metra.
But these issues aside, there is much to like in the new Ordinance as TOD reduced parking requirements and enhanced FAR and building height allowances are now applicable to a much larger geographical area of the city than previously covered.
Here is a summary of some of the highlights of the new Ordinance, and the changes it makes to the Municipal Code of the City of Chicago.
In the net-positive column:
- Greatly expanded geographic reach of TOD benefits
- Favorable treatment of ground floor accessible units which are exempt from minimal lot area calculations and FAR regulations in certain zoning areas
- Developments with three units or more in inclusionary housing areas currently zoned RS1, RS2 or RS3 can use RS4 bulk and density restrictions in TOD areas (the practical impact is to encourage development of higher density units over single family homes in these areas)
- Height and density restrictions have been loosened in R-districts compared to previous requirements
- Parking requirements have been cut in half in some districts
- There may be no parking requirements at all for developments with a qualifying affordability component in RM5, RM5.5, RM6 and RM6.5 districts
- Commercial developments in B3 and C3 zones may also be eligible for increased FAR, including increased building heights, and reduced parking requirements
In the net-neutral column:
- Large developments of 50 or more units in RM6 or RM6.5 zones can receive FAR premiums of 0.50% per unit for every dwelling unit that is deducted from the maximum allowed, up to a maximum FAR increase of 25% over applicable maximums (this encourages the development of fewer but larger units, presumably on the assumption that this will lead to the creation of more family housing – 2BDs and larger – over the studios and 1BR units favored in many large buildings today)
- In regulations previously pertaining to SRO units, the term “SRO” has been deleted and replaced with “government-subsidized or elderly housing”
- Bike parking in new residential developments must be provided at a ratio of one parking space per unit, up to 50 total bike parking spaces
- Bike parking in new commercial developments must be provided at a ratio of one bike parking space per each automobile parking space, up to 50 total bike parking spaces
- More favorable zoning treatment of “rooftop features” including solar and wind energy systems and private roof decks and gardens
In the net-negative column:
- Primarily, those provisions that will make development of single family units in TOD districts more difficult, particularly if a higher density (2-4 unit) must be demolished to accommodate the new SF. Specifically, the Ordinance prohibits detached houses in RT and RM districts that are within community preservation areas. The Ordinance does make some exceptions to this prohibition.
- The Ordinance also includes the requirement that builders looking to demolish or de-convert an existing 2-4 unit structure to be replaced by a single family dwelling must get approval through a zoning hearing.
