Mayor Brandon Johnson doesn’t have the votes to give single family homeowners carte blanche to turn their attics, basements and garages into revenue-generating “granny flats,” and if he doesn’t accept a compromise, a city that needs every affordable housing unit it can get will end up with nothing.
That’s the hard reality of the stalled “Accessory Dwelling Unit” ordinance, according to Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th), who spent more than a year trying to forge a compromise while serving as acting chairman of the City Council’s Zoning Committee.
Lawson was tasked with holding down the fort after allegations of bullying and intimidation of colleagues forced the resignation of Johnson’s former Zoning Chairman, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), who has since been appointed Chicago Park District superintendent.
Johnson tried for months to convince the City Council to fill the zoning chair post with progressive firebrand Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), only to encounter stiff resistance and settle for City Council dean and Vice Mayor Walter Burnett (27th).
The protracted stalemate left the powerful Zoning Committee gavel in Lawson’s hands for longer than expected.
During that time, Lawson tried to find common ground on the volatile issue of accessory dwelling units that pitted bungalow-belt alderpersons against colleagues whose wards have more density.
Lawson’s version would have required a special use permit in areas with R-1 and R-2 zoning designations dominated by bungalows and other single-family homes. He also had an agreement to launch a pilot program in a limited area zoned R-1and R-2, with support from local alderpersons.
“The mayor preferred an ordinance that allowed that by right everywhere in the city. I knew that didn’t have the votes, where mine did. So, I’ve held off on calling it,” Lawson told the Sun-Times Thursday. “I’ve got a lot of colleagues coming up to me and asking when this is going to happen. They’ve got this sweet old lady who’s got a basement unit she needs to legalize. There’s demand for this all over the city. We have a housing need all over the city.”
The protracted stalemate has left Lawson no choice but to tinker around the edges by creating residential units in “spaces we can use right now that are underutilized for housing.”
“I passed an ordinance that allows you to convert a commercial space to residential by administrative adjustment as opposed to a zoning change. It also waives parking lot area and other zoning requirements,” Lawson said.
“I introduced an ordinance to allow for first-floor dwelling units that are behind commercial units on business and commercial strips so you still keep the storefront on the sidewalk, but you have what is generally an accessible unit because there’s no stairs in the rear.”
Johnson believes the only way to solve the crisis that has left Chicago 120,000 units short of the affordable housing units it needs is to authorize “Accessory Dwelling Units” to be built citywide by right, without allowing the unwritten rule known as aldermanic prerogative to give the local council member veto power by requiring a special use permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
But Lawson argued Chicago is paying a heavy price for Johnson’s failure to face political reality.
“If the mayor wants to put a brick on the compromise and we come up with nothing, then we’re really losing out. We’re letting the perfect be the enemy of the good,” Lawson said.
“We’ve already lost out on 100,000-plus units that could have been started in the last year. We could be expanding the pilot zones. The mayor’s office has wanted no changes until there was resolution overall. So, that’s where we stand.”
If Johnson is holding out for bungalow-belt politicians led by Southwest Side Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) to cave, he’s playing a losing game, Lawson said.
“They’re concerned about single-family neighborhoods that make up the majority of their wards being overtaken. Now, everybody gets a two-flat. A street of bungalows becoming a street of two-flats, in their minds, is a concern and a big change in the dynamic of their neighborhood,” Lawson said.
Noting that home ownership is high in those areas, Lawson said, “If you go to multi-unit, you will have more investors coming in building out the second unit. You’ll have a higher rental population, which is different than what they have now. To have this here and there in single-family zones is more workable.”
