Bathroom Battle Comes To An End

ELMHURST, IL — An Elmhurst family's plan for a 49-square-foot expansion of their house received the City Council's approval on Tuesday night, a decision that allows the family to have a second full bathroom. This followed a monthslong battle in which one alderman called the family "duplicitous" and another noted many people in the world have no toilets at all.

The issue was over whether the city should allow Mark and Rosie Anglewicz to expand their house. The couple said a second bathroom would make their house more comfortable for them and their children. But their proposal for an addition needed an exemption from a nearly century-old Elmhurst rule that bars buildings from exceeding 30 percent of a residential lot.

On Tuesday, the council voted 9-5 to allow the addition, which would put the family at 31 percent. Last month, the council voted 6-6 on a proposal for a bigger addition that would increase lot coverage to 35 percent. The mayor broke the tie against the family, but the council later voted to reconsider the matter. The Anglewiczes live in the 100 block of East Elmhurst Avenue.

At Tuesday's meeting, nearly a dozen people — many of them the Anglewiczes' neighbors — spoke during public input encouraging the council to approve the smaller addition. A couple lawyers told the council the Anglewiczes met the legal standards for an exemption.

During the course of the debate over the addition, two aldermen have taken heat for their comments about the Anglewiczes' proposals. Last month, Sixth Ward Alderman Jim Kennedy, who opposed any expansion of the house, remarked, "A lot of people in this world don't have toilets at all, let alone a second one."

In an Elmhurst Patch interview last week, the other Sixth Ward alderman, Michael Honquest, accused the Anglewiczes of being "duplicitous" for turning in a proposal that still expanded their house. He said they were told the reconsideration would involve a proposal that would seek other variances but not one involving the 30 percent rule. Others disagreed with his interpretation.

None of the Anglewiczes' neighbors opposed the addition, according to the city. The Anglewiczes lived on the third smallest residential lot in Elmhurst, a fact that supporters said showed the couple met the "unique circumstance" standard under the city code.

In a speech to the City Council, Rosie Anglewicz noted the City Council had approved exemptions from zoning rules to developers of big projects in town. She said she had no position on these decisions, but urged aldermen to look at her family's proposal through the same lens as the developers' cases.

Holding back emotion, Anglewicz said she was unaccustomed to the "callousness" of the city government, "being told we should be grateful that we have one bathroom."

Her husband, Mark Anglewicz, said the family presented a proposal to keep the same lot coverage, but that would mean reconfiguring the second floor. That would require the family to endure the expense of moving out for four months because they would temporarily lose the house's only shower, he said.

Mark Anglewicz said he was disappointed in how the city had handled the issue over the last six months. "It's become personal for some aldermen," he said.

Responding to the charge of duplicity, he said his family had been nothing but transparent about its plans from day one.

"We have done everything the city has asked. I reached out to aldermen to inform them of our plans," he said.

The audience applauded both of the Anglewiczes after their speeches.

The two lawyers speaking up for the couple were Ben Silver, who works for the Elmhurst-based Citizen Advocacy Center, and Jennifer Ladisch Douglass, a real estate attorney for more than two decades who said she had no personal interest in the matter. Both said the circumstances were unique and the proposal would not change the character of the neighborhood.

Last week, the aldermen on the city's Development, Planning and Zoning Committee voted 2-1 against the 49-square-foot expansion, with Honquest and Mullin in the majority and Bob Dunn in the minority.

In speaking to the council against the addition, Honquest, who did not renew his charge of duplicity, said the council should apply the 30 percent rule evenly. The council, he said, has stuck to the rule even with the town's growth over the last couple decades.

"There are over 14,000 homes in Elmhurst that adhere to the rule," Honquest said.

Dunn, who represents the Second Ward, called himself a big proponent of the 30 percent rule, saying it has served Elmhurst well. But he said no ordinance is perfect, which is why the process for exemptions exists.

It was unclear which way the council would go until Seventh Ward Alderman Mike Brennan, who voted last month against the bigger addition, said he would switch sides to support the smaller one. He said he came into the meeting prepared to vote against the new proposal, but changed his mind after hearing the residents during public input. Second Ward Alderman Norman Leader, who was absent from the meeting where the last vote took place, also supported the plan.

The members who voted against the plan Tuesday were Kennedy, Honquest, Mulliner, Mark Sabatino and Noel Talluto. The majority consisted of Dunn, Leader, Brennan, Michael Bram, Marti Deuter, Dannee Polomsky, Kevin York, Tina Park and Scott Levin.

In two weeks, the City Council is expected to finalize its decision by approving an ordinance to establish the exemption.