Developments as small as seven units could face affordable housing requirements in Oak Park under changes a village committee recommended Oct. 21.
The Housing Programs Advisory Committee (HPAC) told the Ad Hoc Housing Advisory Task Force to consider an affordable-unit share rate of 10% to 15% and weigh lowering the size threshold for covered developments from the current 25 units to as few as 7, the Wednesday Journal reported. Members also agreed the ordinance's existing fee-in-lieu option should remain, though they disagreed on what that fee should be.
The current ordinance, passed in 2019, requires developments of 25 or more units to set aside 10% of units as affordable. Developers can instead pay a $100,000 per-unit fee to the village's Housing Trust Fund. Adjusted for the consumer price index, that fee would top $130,000 today, according to the Wednesday Journal.
No on-site affordable units have resulted from the ordinance. The fee option has brought in about $4.7 million for the trust fund.
Neighborhood Services Director Jonathan Burch presented two preliminary staff options for changing the ordinance at the Oct. 21 meeting, after briefing the task force at its first session Oct. 19. He told HPAC that market conditions and high property taxes make new development in Oak Park extremely difficult.
"It's clear, no developments likely result from any of these changes because the market conditions say it's not possible, it would really only serve as a safety net because market conditions change dramatically and quickly," Burch said at the meeting.
He added that developers could read tighter requirements as a negative signal in a village where building is already not economically viable.
The committee also agreed that condos should be excluded from the ordinance and that basing its geography on Transit-Oriented Development areas no longer makes sense.
Not every member was convinced changes are worth pursuing now. HPAC member Andrea Krieg said she would prefer to leave the ordinance alone rather than provoke a divisive public debate over rules unlikely to trigger new construction.
Committee Chair Keith Spencer pushed back, saying housing policy decisions now will shape options for future generations. Member Ryan O'Malley warned that updating the village's zoning code without also revising the ordinance could let future projects slip through without affordable-unit requirements.
The village board unanimously created the task force at a Sept. 15 meeting. Village President Vicki Scaman appointed its members, drawn from the Plan Commission, HPAC, the Historic Preservation Commission and residents with real estate experience.
HPAC's recommendations go next to the task force before any proposals reach the village board. The task force meets Nov. 6 at 9:30 a.m. at Village Hall.
