The Oak Park village board, in its final action at a Monday night meeting that stretched into early Tuesday morning, took the first step toward possibly down-zoning the block and "the surrounding area."

The broadening of the zoning change to include a larger area got the board past a Plan Commission recommendation to deny the citizens’ application to down-zone. The commission’s decision rested largely on seeing a change for the 400 block of North Maple Avenue as "spot zoning."

"The issue may be instead, where is it appropriate to draw lines from more dense residential to less dense residential?" Village President David Pope said in explaining the board’s decision.

The board tabled the discussion on the zoning change until the end of the meeting, when it entered into a closed-door discussion citing "attorney-client privilege," which is not one of the 23 "strictly construed" exceptions that allow public bodies to meet in private.

When the board returned to open session at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, Pope explained the board’s position before a unanimous 6-0 vote to direct the village attorney to prepare a "findings of fact" on down-zoning the block. Trustee Greg Marsey left the meeting before the vote was taken.

The findings of fact would replace those prepared by the Plan Commission in its recommendation to deny the zoning change from R-7 to R-6, which is a more restrictive and less dense residential zoning designation. The change, if it were to affect the planned condo building, would lower the four-story building by one floor and reduce its 11 units to nine.

The possible down-zoning action is expected to be on the agenda at the next board meeting June 19.

Landmark nominations denied

Meanwhile, Maple residents’ efforts took a hit last week when the Historic Preservation Commission denied landmark nominations for two of the three buildings resting on the two properties on which the 11-unit condo building would be built.

Neighbors and their architect expert, John G. Thorpe, argued that the buildings were good examples of "workers cottages"—simple, and unadorned, but a part of history.

"It could be said it’s a missing part of our heritage," Thorpe told the commission last Thursday night. "It’s worth everybody’s effort to try to preserve them." Thorpe is an Oak Park architect and former member of the commission.

Commissioners expressed sympathy with preserving examples of more pedestrian architectural styles and with the neighbors’ plight in trying to prevent the character of their neighborhood from changing. However, most of the commissioners at the meeting found that the buildings are too badly dilapidated to retain historic architectural characteristics.

Having just one of the three buildings be judged as eligible for landmark status would halt the developer’s ability to get permits to demolish the structures or build anything new until after a public hearing on designating the building as a landmark.

The residents argued the buildings were historic not only for their architectural value, but for their cultural heritage, too. That path gave them more traction, and the commission voted to give the residents more time to find historic elements on one of the houses, 403 N. Maple Ave.

Gathering after the commission meeting, neighbors delegated tasks and took to immediately digging into whatever history they could find on the house.

History research continues

As of Monday night, they had discovered that one of the house’s earliest owners, Henry Lüdemann, served as village clerk and township clerk, and that the man who owned the home after him owned a feed store that caught on fire.

The research has been tough: Lüdemann’s name morphs over time in records from its German spelling to Leadamann and then to Leadaman. Baptism records were in German, testing resident Monika Robinson’s knowledge of the language. North Oak Park is generally known as having been inhabited by German laborers, residents say.

After addressing the board Monday night, Robinson and Amy Reed-Hogrefe buried their noses back in their history homework. They expected to have a revised landmark nomination for the 403 house submitted to the village by Tuesday in order to be on the Historic Preservation Commission’s Thursday night meeting agenda.

Amid the commotion, developer Bob Allen has remained mostly silent publicly, but has agreed to meet with the neighbors to discuss a compromise. A village staff-mediated session is scheduled for Friday.

Allen said he’s already spent a lot of money getting the project ready to be built, having not held back because he intended to build within allowable zoning.

Developer doing his job

In an interview Monday, Allen said he tipped his hand by asking the village for a variance on a previous design for the site that would have put driveways on the edges of the property, something he said would have been more visually pleasing. His bid was turned down by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

"Our sensitivity to the issues of design is what gave the neighbors an opportunity to respond in this blocking action," Allen said. Since then, "They’ve tried every trick in the book to try and stop me."

He called the down-zoning effort a "smokescreen. I don’t know what the real issue is."

Allen said he will consider a compromise with neighbors, but said the block is properly zoned.

"This is exactly appropriate zoning," he said. "It’s bordered on two sides by commercial.

"If I don’t do the highest and best use, I’m not doing my job as a developer," said Allen.

He could make less money on a less dense project, but "Why would you do that?" he said. In order to walk away from the deal, he would want to be "made whole" with the value of the properties and opportunity costs—something he admitted would be unlikely to come from either the neighbors or the village government.

For weeks, Village Attorney Ray Heise has told the board that any zoning changes made now would not apply to a project for which a building permit application was received prior to the change.

Monday night, Pope would only say that the applicability of the zoning change, if approved, would be "subject to internal operating procedures of the village, village codes and state laws."

Neighbors have said that the question of whether the Allen condo project would be affected by a zoning change has not been answered. They say that their appeal to change zoning on the block predates Allen’s building permit application, making the developer susceptible to a down-zoning.

When the issue was discussed earlier in the meeting, block resident Preston Jones Jr., a public defender for the county, argued that the zoning change wasn’t a change at all, but a recognition of the existing structures on the block.

"We feel if our little unique neighborhood is changed that not only the homeowners lose, Oak Park loses," Jones said. "A [45-foot] structure on that block would destroy it."

‘Send a new message’

Trustees Geoff Baker and Robert Milstein were the most vocal in pushing the board to consider setting aside the Plan Commission to deny the zoning change request.

"I’m not going to sit by and let inappropriate zoning affect anybody," Baker said.

Milstein said the board needed "to send a new message in Oak Park that historic homes and peoples’ neighborhoods will be protected."

Milstein read excerpts from a Wednesday Journal editorial that urged Allen to compromise with the neighbors, and said the board needed to send the developer the message that "it’s not development at all costs."

Trustee Elizabeth Brady asked how changing the zoning on Maple would be different from a similar situation on Clinton Avenue near Washington Boulevard. Village Planner Craig Failor said he didn’t see much difference on the surface, but that he didn’t know how zoning changes on Clinton came about.

Board looks to protect other homes

After the meeting, Pope said that the board identified preserving single-family homes as a priority in July 2005.

"So, clearly it’s an issue of concern to the board," Pope said.

He expects staff will return recommendation on how to protect single-family homes in other areas zoned for multifamily.

Trustee Ray Johnson added that zoning changes made four years ago have protected homes in Oak Park, which hasn’t experienced problems with teardowns and McMansions that other villages have.

CONTACT: dcarter@wjinc.com