MPC February 2004 Media Tips
It’s a growing problem in Chicago, as new housing
crops up: conflicts arise between the historic neighborhood users and newcomers.
The Industrial Council of Near West Chicago asked MPC for help in making peace
between the Kinzie Planned Manufacturing District to the south of Grand Avenue,
and an increasingly residential neighborhood to the north.
The solution was in the Mayor’s Zoning Reform
Commission’s proposed Chicago zoning ordinance. “In the new text there are tools
designed to resolve just this type of conflict,” said Peter Skosey, MPC vice
president of external relations. “The C3 district will be a buffer zone between
noisy, truck-filled manufacturing areas and the sidewalks, parks, and slower
streets you want in a residential area.”
The fifth and final module of the new zoning
ordinance, dealing with the Central Area, was introduced to the City Council in
mid-February, and will be voted on by the Zoning Committee March 4, 2004. MPC
has been working in partnership with aldermen and community groups in Lawndale,
Logan Square, Rogers Park, South Chicago, and West Town on a Zoning Change
Strategy to prepare for remapping neighborhoods when the complete ordinance is
passed, expected within three months.