Published on Apr. 27, 2020 by Steven Vance
Updated on Apr. 29, 2020
An ordinance was proposed would amend the Zoning Board of Appeals’s (ZBA) review criteria for any industrial use in a Planned Manufacturing District that is a “special use” and requires an air pollution permit. It would also add a community meeting requirement.
It is important to note that the site of the former Crawford Generating Station that is being demolished — the smokestack already has been demolished — is not in a Planned Manufacturing District, nor was it prior to being converted to Planned Development #1424.
However, the new location of General Iron’s metal recycling facility will be in PMD #6. See map of the 22 PMDs.
The ZBA is a board appointed by the mayor, and independent of City Council, to approve “special uses” that the zoning code doesn’t allow as-of-right. These special uses include cannabis business establishments, gas stations, recycling and waste facilities, rooftop farms, and community centers. The zoning code establishes the criteria that the ZBA must use to review and approve projects.
A Planned Manufacturing District (PMD) is a zoning district intended to preserve and promote manufacturing within the City of Chicago by allowing only manufacturing, commercial, and industrial uses in perpetuity. Since the zoning district cannot change to ones that allow a higher value use (like offices or multi-family residential), the land values remain low and affordable to business categories that need a large amount of land.
The ordinance proposes the following changes to the Chicago zoning code.
Ordinance would change approval rules for certain industrial uses was originally published in Chicago Cityscape on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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