An Arlington Heights commission charged with promoting affordable housing has worked for years to get community leaders to consider a creative new way to enlist the help of developers.
It is an idea the village’s Planning Department has been less than enthusiastic about, because it could increase the density of new apartment buildings, something the village has often tried to prevent.
But there is strong evidence to suggest the Housing Commission might get a full hearing from the Village Board on the issue of affordability, which commission members say is vitally important to the town’s economic future.
A measure being pushed by the Housing Commission would allow developers to exceed the village’s normal limit on apartment units so long as they agree to include units designated for low- and moderate-income people, said Richard Milburn, the Housing Commission’s chairman. Under the proposed ordinance, village officials could negotiate with a developer on the number of additional units to be earmarked.
At a recent Village Board meeting, trustees told Housing Commission members to present their draft ordinance to the full Village Board for consideration.
If approved, the ordinance would be among the first of its kind in the Chicago area, housing advocates say.
Milburn said the ordinance might be one way to address the continuing problem of low- and moderate-income residents being priced out of the local housing market, which reduces the supply of workers for local businesses.
“We are not forcing any developer to enter into this agreement. It’s an offer,” Milburn said.
Although the Village Board encouraged the commission to submit its proposal, the proposed ordinance is likely to be heavily debated. The village’s Planning Department continues to object to the proposal, and Mayor Arlene Mulder said the village always has been concerned about keeping density down.
At least one village trustee is not yet convinced the village needs more affordable housing.
“This is the first time I’ve heard the concern about low- to moderate-income needs,” Trustee Thomas Stengren said. “Somebody has to give us some evidence that we have a problem with that.”
Stengren also worried about increasing density.
“We’re always looking to decrease density. To go in the other direction doesn’t make a lot of sense,” he said.
Milburn said the Commission’s proposal would increase density marginally and would require 2 to 5 percent of the new units to be made available for low- or moderate-income residents.
Ed Geiss, the village’s human services coordinator, said he regularly sees residents in desperate need of affordable housing.
“When I first came to the village in 1976, I thought it was the village’s biggest need then,” he said. “And I’m convinced it’s gotten worse rather than better.”
