Elmhurst Fails To Submit Affordable Housing Plan: State

ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst has yet to submit a plan for affordable housing to the state, even though it is required under the law.

The mandate is for towns with more than 1,000 people and less than 10 percent affordable housing. Elmhurst is at 8.2 percent, according to the state.

During a virtual forum Sunday, the three candidates for mayor — aldermen Michael Bram, Scott Levin and Mark Mulliner — were asked why the city has not submitted a plan. They are running in the April 6 election.

Bram said he could not speak on the reason for the lack of a plan.

"One of my goals as your mayor is to make sure that not only we reach the state mandate of 10 percent in affordable housing, but to submit that plan by the end of the year," Bram said in the forum organized by the League of Women Voters.

Bram noted another suburb has required all new developments with at least five units to include at least 15 percent affordable housing. Bram said he was unsure if that was right for Elmhurst, but he said the city should look to other towns and "open our vision" on increasing affordable housing.

Calling affordable housing a "tough topic," Levin said something should be done to encourage developments to come to Elmhurst and build affordable housing.

"It just can't be declared that we're going to have it if it doesn't make economic sense for the builders," he said. "One of the problems with Elmhurst is that when people want to downsize and move to a smaller residence, there's nothing affordable other than rentals. What that means is downsizing means moving to Villa Park or some other community. I think this is something that needs to be looked at carefully."

Mulliner said that at one point, Elmhurst's affordable housing exceeded 10 percent.

"I'm assuming that we definitely need to focus our energy to make sure reports are filled out properly and that we build up our affordable housing up over 10 percent preferably," he said.

Mulliner said the city could start with its multi-family locations.

"I think that is what the city will end up doing," he said.

Elmhurst's median housing unit price is $433,000, well above the statewide median of $195,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Neighboring Villa Park and Northlake are $246,000 and $182,000, respectively.

As of October, Elmhurst has neither turned in a plan nor indicated whether it was in the process of doing so, according to the Illinois Housing Development Authority.

Elmhurst is far from alone among the 46 towns that have less than 10 percent affordable housing.

Six towns — Lake Bluff, Lincolnshire, Lincolnwood, Northfield, Wilmette and Winnetka — have submitted letters asserting their home rule and saying they do not plan on submitting affordable housing plans, according to the state housing agency. Elmhurst is also a home rule town.

Elmhurst Patch has left a message with the city administration about the status of its affordable housing plan.

In December, Patch reported that few Elmhurst residents have federal vouchers to help pay for housing compared to other towns. Under state law, landlords can discriminate against holders of such vouchers, commonly known as Section 8.

Naperville is three times the size of Elmhurst, but has 13 times the number of voucher recipients. Naperville is one of a few towns that have prohibited discrimination against voucher recipients.