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Community Planning & Development

Community Development Block Grants | Historic Preservation | Planned Development | Planning | Zoning

More restrictive residential zoning under consideration

With the goal of preserving neighborhood character, the Village Board is investigating reclassifying areas of the community zoned multiple-family residential to reduce the chances of single and two-family-style homes being torn down and replaced with larger apartment or condominium developments. A review of all R-6 and R-7 Multiple-Family District properties for land use, zoning and building type began in July. The review is intended to establish what land uses already exist within the districts to determine if rezoning changes are needed and to look at ways to allow contextual development that includes preservation of single-family style residences.

Gathering information

Assessing the current state of the two districts, which comprise about 12.5 percent of Oak Park , required Village planning staff to hit the streets. They traversed approximately 28 miles, counting the number of dwelling units on each property, photographing residences, verifying land uses and ensuring accuracy of the property addresses. Information was cataloged on some 1,500 buildings in the two multiple-family districts and more than 500 single-family style homes were photographed.

The information gathered manually was then entered into the Geographical Information System (GIS), the first step in creating a new database on the parcels that make up the R-6 and R-7 zoning districts. The new R-6/R-7 data base was expanded to include other information, too, including date inspected, number of units, land use and type of residence – whether single- or multi-family. The Village's GIS already contained an address database so staff took the opportunity to ensure the accuracy of those addresses against the properties reviewed in the field.

With the information entered into the R-6/R-7 database, staff can query according to feature locations and attributes to create a wide range of comparisons, such identifying how many single-family style residences are located within a historic district. The information also can be used to create maps to illustrate the various query results.

What was found

Analysis of the data revealed a fragmented land use pattern within the R-6 and R-7 districts. Only a few blocks within the areas are 100 percent similar land uses, such as all single-family dwellings with single-family occupancy. Further analysis suggested no one single rezoning action would be sufficient to address community concerns. In fact, staff recommended a three-fold approach – rezoning of specific areas or blocks; making text amendments to the current zoning ordinance that would apply to the two multiple-family districts; and making changes to historic district boundaries to include these areas. Among the recommended text amendments to the zoning ordinance would be to allow a nonconforming residential building to be reconstructed if destroyed or damaged by fire, accident or “act of God” if the cost of restoration to the condition before the occurrence exceeds 50 percent of the cost of replacement of the entire structure.

Per Village Board directions in October, new maps were prepared to determine which R-6 and R-7 zoned blocks contain 50 percent or more single-family style and/or two-family multiple-family style residences. This refinement of the review included documenting the number of buildings within the defined block areas, the total square footage of land within the block verses the square footage of land on which the buildings are located within each block and excluding commercial and business properties. Based on these factors, 71 areas with approximately 600 properties that meet the Village Board study criteria were identified.

Next steps

The Plan Commission reviewed 127 of the approximate 600 properties in December 2006, and are scheduled to present recommendations to the Village Board in January 2007. An additional 215 properties will be reviewed in mid-January, followed by a report to the Board in March. The remainder of the properties will be reviewed in February, with recommendations to the Village Board likely in March. All hearing dates will be posted on the Plan Commission page of this website.

For more information on the multiple-family residential zoning review or redevelopment in the Village, call 358.5418 or e-mail the Community Planning & Development Department .