A pitched battle over Broadway — a clash of visions over a main commercial artery in Edgewater — is due for a City Council hearing Tuesday, after months of delays.
At issue is a proposal from North Side alderpersons to rezone both sides of Broadway from Montrose to Devon avenues to allow larger business or residential projects than what’s permitted now. The most contentious part covers Devon to just south of Foster Avenue, bearing changes sought by Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th).
She wants a rezoning that, with limited exceptions, would allow for mixed-use buildings of seven or eight floors on a street now with a mishmash of uses, including small shops with apartments above, strip malls and large retailers such as Whole Foods and a Burlington clothing store. And the new projects could go forward without an alderperson’s review.
Her plan follows a guideline from Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration and has support from residents and groups promoting affordable housing, business growth and mass transit.
But it’s brought on intense opposition from residents who have formed a group, Edgewater Residents for Responsible Development, to fight “blank-check upzoning” that adherents say will worsen congestion and drive up costs for renters, homeowners and merchants.
Ordinances to implement the rezoning are on the Tuesday meeting agenda for the City Council’s Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards. If passed, they could get City Council approval on Oct. 16.
“The story here is one of the community being cut out from the beginning,” said Patricia Sharkey, an organizer with the Edgewater opposition group. Sharkey said Manaa-Hoppenworth has refused to consider alternatives that would prioritize development on the east side of Broadway along the Red Line tracks.
She said the alderperson has sided with special interest groups such as the Active Transportation Alliance and Abundant Housing Illinois. “Our alderperson is considering their statements on a par with those of her own constituents,” Sharkey said.
Manaa-Hoppenworth said she has shut out no one. “The issue is that people are afraid of change. But most people in this ward since the early 2000s have been talking about changes on Broadway,” she said in a call from the parking lot of the Burlington store at 5227 N. Broadway. She shared a selfie to prove her location.
The parking lot would be a great place to debate anyone about the rezoning, Manaa-Hoppenworth said, vowing to take on all comers. The lot, she said, is an example of property near transit that can draw a better use.
She has framed the upzoning as promoting transparency and predictability. The 2.6-mile stretch of Broadway has more than 20 zoning categories. Johnson’s administration has argued that streamlined rules will incentivize growth.
“We want to create an environment more welcoming for developers and investors and business owners to consider Broadway,” Manaa-Hoppenworth said.
Ald. Angela Clay (46th) and Ald. Matt Martin (47th) offered upzoning ordinances for sections of Broadway in Uptown that also are due for a zoning committee vote. They attracted less controversy.
The ordinances have a built-in requirement for affordable housing. For a building of 10 or more units, the developer would have to set aside 20% as affordable under the city’s ordinance, which sets income limits for eligible buyers or renters.
In an interview last July, Manaa-Hoppenworth talked about rent increases in Edgewater. “It’s because competition [to get apartments] is so high. We can decrease that by adding more units so that people have more possibilities,” she said.
Critics, however, say developers always shoot for the top end of a market and that building more homes only makes everything more costly. The issue has become a flashpoint.
In February, the Chicago Plan Commission adopted a “framework” for changes along Broadway. During the hearing, advocates of more housing accused the opponents of trying to protect a wealthy white enclave west of Broadway from encroachments by the poor.
The proposed ordinances would give the framework the force of law. In Manaa-Hoppenworth’s plan, most of Broadway would be reclassified as B3-5, an intense category for a commercial street outside of downtown. To appease homeowners in the Lakewood Balmoral Historic District, she would rezone two blocks on the west side of Broadway to the slightly smaller B3-3, which allows buildings up to 70 feet tall. In either case, taverns or liquor stores still would need special approval.
In September, when the Edgewater opposition group held its own forum on the upzoning, a few people heckled the speakers, the local News-Star newspaper reported.
“Any legitimate community input is called NIMBY by these people,” Sharkey said, using the acronym for Not In My Backyard.
The zoning committee delayed the Broadway matter twice earlier this year, amid concerns about whether scores of property owners had received adequate notice. Critics argue the notices remain lacking and hired a lawyer to make the point, but a spokeswoman for the committee’s temporary chairman, Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th), said the matter is moving ahead nonetheless.
The dispute also has simmered in the business community. The Edgewater Chamber of Commerce backed the Broadway upzoning as adding density that’s good for business. The group posts banners that tout the neighborhood as “cooler near the lake.” But a source said the chamber never polled members and was surprised the issue was so hot.
Its executive director, Garrett Karp, told the Sun-Times he was “a little hesitant” to discuss the topic Thursday and referred a reporter to the organization’s existing stance.
Patricia Staszak, owner of Andersonville Physical Therapy, 5414 N. Broadway, said the vibrancy of the street is underappreciated. Others noted that older buildings on the street already provide apartments or retail space that’s cheaper than new construction.
“Yet under a radical upzoning plan being pushed by the current alderwoman and Mayor Johnson, the Broadway business district could potentially be taxed out of existence,” Staszak said. “If the proposed zoning scheme is approved as is, it will turbocharge land values and further spike already escalating tax bills.”
Staszak was among several Edgewater business owners who recorded their objections to the upzoning in a video.