Community-Driven Participatory Zoning
Chicago, IL
Population: 2-3,000,000 | Government type: City | Topic: Development
Community-driven participatory zoning meeting for Chicago’s 35th Ward held at a local school.
The Program
In 2016, Chicago’s 35th Ward created a Community-Driven Zoning and Development (CDZD) process. This approach ensures inclusive, transparent and democratic decision-making as it pertains to land use and development. Created collectively by community organizations, local residents, and experts, the CDZD goals and procedures represent over six months of research and community engagement. The process ensures zoning change decisions fully and accurately represent the interests of the residents and that the community is fully informed about requests made for zoning changes and their potential impact on the neighborhood.
Thanks to a proposal from Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) youth, the 35th Ward CDZD procedures were updated in 2018 to require zoning change applicants to post a large sign detailing the zoning change request on their property. The notice is bilingual, English-Spanish, and includes a rendering of the project, an easy to understand description of the project, and information on the upcoming community hearing organized under the CDZD process.
3D rendering of 5-story boutique hotel and event space that received community support through the CDZD only after the developer signed a community benefits agreement pledging to pay a $17 hourly minimum wage and 70% of hires will be from the community.
Under this process, the 35th Ward has held roughly 25 public meetings on proposed zoning developments to date and has greenlighted several development projects. Most recently, the 35th Ward’s CDZD process led to the approval of a Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation proposal to turn a city-owned parking lot on Emmett Street into a 100-unit, 100% affordable housing development in Logan Square, which will begin construction in late 2020.
Collaborative Governance
Through a collaborative effort, the process requires developers to provide detailed information and plan on developments (known as a zoning map amendment application), including renders and costs, and seeks to minimize incidental costs to residents by bringing to light corresponding costs such as infrastructure stress, increased density and demand on city services.
The CDZD process also outlines parameters for holding community meetings to accurately represent the interests of the ward’s residents and engages community groups that can provide insight and expertise that accurately reflects the community as a whole. After a developer has submitted an application, neighborhood organizations review the application and meet directly with the developers to address questions and concerns. Once the community review process is done, it then goes to a large neighborhood assembly which is advertised at least two weeks in advance, is held within the community, and is bilingual. Larger meetings provide child care services to make them as inclusive as possible and remove barriers for residents to attend.
Caption: (Right) Neighborhood assembly in April 2019 for the Emmett Street development project attended by 600 people. Participants raised green cards in approval of the project moving forward.
The process has made clear how important it is for residents to be empowered to make planning decisions and to be given accurate and comprehensive information. Commitment to inclusivity and equity—language and universal accessibility and other services (e.g. child care at meetings)—must be utilized in order to allow people to fully engage in this process. Because every zoning change has its own set of nuanced particulars, having a standardized process helps ensure communities feel centered and have buy-in.
Emphasis on equity
Prior to the creation of CDZD, communities in Ward 35 had continuously voiced concerns about land use and zoning, indicating that business-as-usual was driving displacement and gentrification. Since 2000, the community witnessed the displacement of over 19,200 working class and mainly Latinx residents, pushed out by big developers and rising rents. The prevailing sentiment in the community was that connected developers were using their campaign contributions to influence zoning and land use regulation behind closed doors. These backroom deals facilitated the destruction of the community’s existing affordable housing stock, and led to rampant land speculation that raised housing costs throughout the community.
Rather than zoning decisions driven by backroom deals, residents facing displacement desired an inclusive and transparent process that would put their concerns on affordability front and center and that would allow them to win concessions from developers prior to a project receiving a greenlight from the local alderman.
CDZD disrupts business as usual by ensuring residents are centered in the development decisions that impact their neighborhoods. The CDZD aimed to mirror the Chicago Zoning Ordinance and Land Use Ordinance, but similar CDZD processes should think beyond the existing zoning code.
Analysis
Preemption: Localities typically have extensive control over land use and development, however, some states may restrict policies relating to affordable housing such as inclusionary zoning.
Local government dynamics: The Chicago City Council, at 50 wards, is one of the largest in the country with a range of political views. The Council must vote on all zoning changes, but through a practice known as “aldermanic prerogative,” aldermen have historically deferred to one another on local land use and zoning decisions. This practice has given local aldermen freedom to structure their ward’s process for reviewing zoning changes. While “aldermanic prerogative” is unique to Chicago, the practice of deferring to local elected officials on legislation solely impacting their district is found in other legislative bodies across the country. This particular effort focused on changing zoning in one ward, a process that is relatively unique in the country.
Policy impact/strength: Community-driven zoning changes that center equity and inclusivity help institutionalize important efforts, for issues such as increasing the supply of affordable housing. Oftentimes, ambitious commitments such as 100 percent affordability are difficult to impossible without robust community advocacy and support. As a result of CDZD, decisions that impact the entire community were no longer made by a connected few behind closed doors and instead occured in public forums where residents facing displacement, and affordable housing advocates, felt welcomed and encouraged to participate in the decision making process. This has led to well-attended and robust meetings where residents advocate for and win equitable development outcomes.
Last updated: January 19, 2021
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