Gov. JB Pritzker’s plan to ease the state’s affordable housing shortage would limit municiple control and could negatively impact Elgin’s single-family neighborhoods, Community Development Director Marc Mylott said.
“The need for more housing at various price points is well recognized,” Mylott told the Elgin City Council at its meeting Wednesday. However, Pritzker’s Build Up Illinois Developments plan has the “potential to fundamentally alter single-family neighborhoods,” he said.
Pritzker unveiled his proposal to create statewide zoning laws as a means of spurring homebuilding and encouraging the development of more affordable housing during his State of the State speech last month. If implemented, it could limit the authority local governments have in determining what types of housing structures can be built on residentially zoned land.
Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain said the Metro West Council of Government has asked its members to gather feedback, which will be forwarded to state officials.
Mylott provided an analysis of the bill at the council meeting.
BUILD would promote “middle housing,” units like two- or three-flats, duplexes and small apartment buildings in neighborhoods throughout the city, he said.
“You could have an eight-unit apartment building on any single-family residential lot larger than 7,500 square feet,” Mylott said.
To put it in perspective, home lots on the city’s far west side in subdivisions like Highland Woods, Tall Oaks and Valley Creek are larger than 7,500 square feet, Mylott said. Properties in Elgin’s historic neighborhoods could qualify too, he said.
Buildings with 2,500 to 5,000 square feet could be used for four-unit apartment buildings, he said.
Plus, it is not limited to new construction and would allow existing structures to be converted, Mylott said.
“Many on the city council will remember that we’ve spent more than 20 years and significant financial resources to eliminate (multi) dwelling units in our older, more crowded residential neighborhoods,” including the northeast and Gifford Park neighborhoods, he said.
Elgin started a program encouraging homeowners to convert properties from multifamily to single-family homes in 1995. The city provided an estimated $6.1 million in grants to convert 300 homes, Mylott said.
Under the BUILD proposal, any homeowner could add units to generate additional income, he said.
“You can start to see how the support of middle housing, while a lofty goal, could come at the cost of our existing single-family neighborhoods,” Mylott said.
If the governor’s plan is approved as proposed, municipalities would not be allowed to review plans through their planning and zoning commissions and city councils and village boards would have no authority to reject plans or seek modifications, he said.
“The state (bill) would override local zoning and eliminate the concept of the traditional single-family neighborhood in the city,” Mylott said.
“All this even though the city has already thought of and planned for locations where different housing types are appropriate,” Mylott said. There are two-family and multifamily resident districts already established in the city, he said.
One example is South Street, between Long Common Parkway and Nestler Road, where Copper Springs, Shadow Hills and Providence subdivisions on the city’s far west side meet. There are duplexes, multifamily homes and single-family homes in that area, he said.
Another example is the award-winning Larkin Center, which incorporated apartments, duplexes and flats within an existing single-family residential neighborhood.
There are 1,000 acres zoned for two-family residential or multifamily development, Mylott said.
“The city has taken significant steps to do what it can on the local level,” he said.
According to a 2023 Illinois Housing Development Authority study of 1,300 communities, Elgin has 63% affordable housing, an increase of 4% from 2018.
There were 48 communities in Illinois that had less than 10% affordable housing throughout the state in 2023.
Mylott said, “Instead of imposing on our ability to make our local decisions, perhaps directing state resources to those communities where the state has already determined affordable housing is needed would be a better incremental step.”
Other points of concern he highlighted from the 40-page proposed state bill are:
- Allowing more accessory dwelling units, like small apartments over garages;
- Reducing parking regulations for certain land uses;
- Creating a statewide impact fee formula;
- Creating stricter deadlines for plan reviews and building inspections;
- Allowing one exit in apartment buildings rather than the two required under Elgin code.
Kaptain said staff will be forwarding Mylott’s analysis to the Metro West Council of Government.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
