Streeterville Organization Of Active Residents

SOAR STATEMENT: PLANNING AND ZONING REFORM July 25, 2002

STATEMENT

MAYOR’S CENTRAL AREA PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE AND ZONING REFORM COMMISSION COMMUNITY MEETING
Thursday, JULY 25, 2002
Walter Payton College Preparatory High School


SOAR, the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents, applauds the Mayor’s Zoning Reform Commission and the Chicago Department of Planning and Development for their respective draft proposals of a new Zoning Ordinance and new Central Area Plan. We acknowledge the massive effort and creative thought that were involved in producing these documents

Our neighborhood, Streeterville, while part of Chicago’s Central Area, has the largest residential component in the area, and is expected to increase by many thousands in the near future. SOAR is focusing, therefore, on issues of primary concern to our constituents, the residents in our community.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

The importance of this issue cannot be over emphasized with regard to the impact to Streeterville in both documents under discussion. Without improved public transit, neither residents, businesses nor tourists will continue to find Streeterville attractive. With visitors to Navy Pier, the largest tourist attraction in the State, vying for road space with residents and business people, the limited street infrastructure is already overburdened.

We were disappointed that the Central Area Plan did not include transit from the central city all the way to Navy Pier and ask, therefore,

1. That the new Zoning Ordinance make high-density development dependent on its proximity to public transit and that development follow transit.

2. That there be an extension of the Carroll Avenue busway through Streeterville to Navy Pier—an essential link for residents, tourists and businesses alike.

TRAFFIC/PARKING

1. We ask that both the Zoning Ordinance and the Central Area Plan prohibit further development of freestanding garages, which was reported by the media as part of a prior draft of the Central Area Plan.

Supporting such a ban is a longstanding policy of the Board of Directors of SOAR, not because we don’t believe that parking is a problem, but because we believe freestanding garages are part of the problem, not the solution. The proliferation of garages will be a great mistake. We believe they exacerbate street congestion, disrupt and endanger the pedestrian flow on our sidewalks with intrusive curb-cuts, add to air pollution and unsafe conditions, and are aesthetically unattractive. We encourage the use of off-site parking with shuttles into the central city instead.

2. We applaud the inclusion of accessory parking in calculating FAR with specific limits on the number of parking spaces counted as “accessory” parking.

OPEN/GREEN SPACE/ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

We would like to see the inclusion of

1. Mandated cut-throughs for pedestrians in superblocks.

2. Mandated set-backs and open spaces for high density areas.

3. Bonuses to encourage high activity ground floor use and elimination of blank walls at street level.

4. Wide sidewalks with pedestrian oriented streets in high density areas to balance automobile needs.

CONSOLIDATION OF CURRENT HIGH-DENSITY DISTRICTS

1. We support the consolidation of R6, R7 and R8 zoning districts with allowable density approximating the current R6 as recommended in the Zoning Principles. This would address our concern for redevelopment in the older parts of Streeterville.

2. We ask that the new Zoning Ordinance downzone properties for development and redevelopment in South Streeterville to restrict height and density of new projects, thus limiting future growth to more absorbable levels.

EXPAND “PD THRESHOLDS” FOR SENSITIVE AREAS

We support the recommendation to reduce the existing Planned Development thresholds for Streeterville developments to allow for greater community input on projects under 600’ tall.

For more than 27 years, SOAR has gone on record as being not anti-development, or pro-development, but as pro-resident. Our slogan is, “Working To Keep Streeterville A Neighborhood.” This has been a challenge for a volunteer-driven organization that tries hard to responsibly represent this unusually mixed-use community, Therefore, we are encouraged by the proposed Principles for Chicago’s New Zoning Ordinance as well as the overall plan for Chicago’s Central Area, so far as they encourage a balance between the residential, business, institutional, and entertainment destinations that characterize our distinctive community. We are pleased to see the incorporation in the Zoning Principles draft of some concerns we voiced at earlier community meetings . We strongly support the Mayor’s goals of improving the quality of life, ensuring residential property values, promoting transportation choices and ensuring parks & open spaces.

With an updated Zoning Code that is easier to understand and follow, there will be more security for both residents and developers with less need for continual revisions. And SOAR shares the hope that the forward- looking, Central Area Plan will ensure Chicago’s continuing vitality and economic growth for many decades to come.

We very much look forward to the next round of hearings

Thank you.