Live reporting by
Parker Garlough
All 5 of the items heard by the Commission are projects located on the Southside: in Englewood, Washington Park, Auburn Gresham, and Bronzeville.
Parker Garlough
@parker_garlough
Hi, I’ll be live-tweeting today's Plan Commission meeting for #CHIdocumenters @CHIdocumenters
09:55 AM Aug 15, 2024 CDT
The first item is the Englewood Agro-Eco District Land Use Plan. A copy of the presentation can be found here: chicago.gov/content/dam/ci…
chicago.gov/content/dam/ci…
The plan was first presented in June. At this meeting, the commissioners will vote on its adoption.
The Englewood Nature Trail is expected to begin construction this fall.
Through conversations with community members, a Community Repair Compact was compiled, which states that the land use plan's highest priority is ensuring that residents continue to be able to afford to live in Englewood.
Anton Seals, founder of Grow Greater Englewood, emphasized the importance of prioritizing Black-owned businesses, and setting guidelines for businesses and organizations to avoid a "parasitic" relationship with those who "just want to take our money"
The success of the plan will be judged in part by whether it successfully decreases the life expectancy gap, Seals said
Alderman La Spata cited his own experiences living near the 606 as fueling his concern about potential gentrification due to the Englewood Nature Trail.
"I feel encouraged by the plan, and I would encourage residents to know that this is the start of it," he said, and encouraged residents to work to ensure that the protections against gentrification are effective.
Seals: "Englewood is a huge neighborhood. It's lost a lot of population, and there's been a lot of push to build new housing. But you can't build new housing when people who live there can't get a loan to improve their home they've been living in for decades."
Seals, in response to a question about how commissioners/alderpeople can help GGE, said that the organization intends to propose multiple ordinances related to the Land Use Plan.
Seals: the young people working with GGE have developed a greater understanding of democratic processes, and patience for the complex work that goes into governing
The commission voted to approve the Englewood Agro-Eco Land Use Plan.
The next meeting is an Institutional Planned Development proposed by Sunshine Gospel Ministries and Sunshine Community Development Corporation. The development would consist of a 3-story community center with outdoor athletic facilities.
The site's surroundings contain residential and commercial areas.
Uses include: fitness center, administrative offices, a youth lounge, and a pop-up shopping area.
Executive Director Kimberly Salley guided community outreach efforts for the development.
Floor plan for the first floor (north is on the right, south is on the left)
The gym is bordered by other athletic facilities such as a weight-lifting room and a dance studio.
This floor of the gym has a balcony with a walking track and cardio machines.
Sunshine Ministries will host most of its events on this floor (elderly-focused programs, after-school programs, etc)
The green area represents open green space that will be available to visitors of the community center.
The development will meet and potentially exceed Chicago's Sustainable Development Policy for new construction.
The speaker cited a study that concluded that vacant lots are associated with lower property values, and community centers are associated with about 22% higher property values.
Sunshine Ministries currently serves 100 students, and expect to expand that to 125-400 when the center is constructed.
Woodlawn Diversity in Action board member Karen Shyne spoke in favor of the project, saying "walkability is critical on the South Side of Chicago." From her own experience as an entrepeneur, she said, she was confident that this would be beneficial for business owners.
Services provided to students would include athletic teams and art classes.
The project will have 90 parking spaces, a number chosen based on a parking study that was conducted. Its placement was chosen to avoid interrupting the MLK sidewalk with a parking lot entrance.
Commissioner Danielle Tillman asked whether native plants will be prioritized in landscaping.
They do aim to have "a lot of native plants," but no specific goal was set, according to the project architect
The next item is a proposed amendment to Green Era Educational NFP's Industrial Planned Development 1443. The amendment would expand the lot size.
The additional space would allow for an additional detention pond, which is used for flood prevention.
Attorney Matthew Alley explained that the space was established in 2019, and hosts a community center and anaerobic digester.
The site area will increase by about 4.4 acres. It will not include any new buildings.
Green Era hosted a community meeting on April 24, 2024. Alley said the project was well-received at the meeting and no requests for changes to the project were made.
A traffic study determined that no increased traffic is expected.
The facility already met Chicago's sustainability requirements. The expansion is expected to maintain or increase its sustainability.
The site expansion has been officially recommended by the Department of Planning and Development.
Lauralyn Clawson: Urban Growers Collective is a partner on the Green Era Campus, and the site expansion will allow them to increase their food production.
Jay Readey, president of NeighborScapes: "It's incredible the way that Green Era has participated in the fabric of the neighborhood."
The next item is proposed by the Chicago Housing Authority. "It's simply to correct a mistake in 2013, when PD 1135 was passed," attorney Steven Friedland said. It aligns the boundary of a zoning section with 45th street, correcting a measurement error.
The next item proposes to establish 2 buildings with a total of 52 residential units and ground floor residential space. The lot is currently vacant.
In the past 5 years, project input has been gathered at 12 community meetings.
