No wonder Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) is so reluctant to chair the City Council’s Zoning Committee.
Tuesday was the committee’s last meeting before Burnett is expected to take over, and it was a five-hour marathon featuring more than an hour of debate, but no decision, on landmark status for Pilsen’s historic St. Adalbert Church.
Local Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) — who was Mayor Brandon Johnson’s pick to be Zoning chair — wanted desperately to put to rest a controversy that has “parishioners at each other’s throats.”
He pleaded with colleagues to approve the landmark designation for the five-building campus, including the historic church. The Archdiocese of Chicago was equally adamant, arguing against the blanket designation. They argued it would create a financial burden and complicate efforts to find a buyer for the campus, 1650 W. 17th St.
In the end, a committee that normally defers to the local alderperson on zoning issues took no action on the landmark designation, handing the Archdiocese at least a temporary victory.
The Council has one year — until June 2025 — to consider the designation, which was recommended by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. If no action occurs by then, the designation takes effect automatically.
Acting Zoning Chair Bennett Lawson (44th) joined colleagues Pat Dowell (3rd), Anthony Beale (9th) and Brendan Reilly (42nd) in pushing for the delay. They want to give both sides until that deadline to hammer out a mutually-acceptable solution that creates affordable housing and preserves the historic church.
The vote was 10-4 to punt the controversy for another day.
“I am asking my colleagues to respect due process. There must be closure on something that has created unnecessary controversy. … What we cannot continue to do is delay a process that has parishioners at each other’s throats,” Sigcho-Lopez said.
“A delay will only benefit a particular developer. I’m not willing to do that. … The community has the right to self-determination after exhausting all options.”
Beale, who once chaired the Council’s Committee on Landmarks, said he’s “been down this road before” and always “intervened” to forge a “consensus that everyone could live with.”
“I have never landmarked a piece of property that the owner was not in favor of,” Beale said. “That’s a disservice.”
Beale made the motion to defer action on the landmark designation.
“I sense common ground that we could reach. I’m not in a hurry to p— people off. That’s what we’re doing now. We’re in a hurry to p— people off. Let’s take a pause and bring people together.”
Dowell agreed with Beale it was “probably in the best interest of everybody to sit down and try to work it out. … If people have the right goal in mind, it can be done.”
Added Reilly: “If we had a looming deadline of a month or two, my inclination would be to landmark. But we have more time. … In a lot of cases, putting in extra time can lead to a better result.”
When his last meeting as acting chair ended shortly before 3 p.m., Lawson gleefully pronounced: “There being no further business before the Zoning Committee, we are adjourned!”
If Burnett is confirmed as expected at Wednesday’s full Council meeting, Lawson will gladly pass the gavel.