Elmhurst 'Hot-Button' Issue Pushed Aside For Now

ELMHURST, IL – A six-year effort to overhaul Elmhurst's zoning code is now before the city's elected leaders.

But perhaps the most controversial issue was removed from the overall proposal, possibly to be addressed later.

The issue is whether to allow "granny flats" in local neighborhoods. Such homes are formally known as "accessory dwelling units," or ADUs.

Accessory dwelling units come with a full kitchen and bathroom. They can be attached to a house or detached.

Supporters say allowing granny flats would make a type of affordable housing available locally. In Elmhurst, the average sale price has spiked to $761,000, up from $410,000 five years ago.

Opponents argue the homes would make Elmhurst more crowded. And they contend it would be a ploy to bring in low-income housing.

In December 2019, the city hired the Chicago-based Camiros consulting firm to help overhaul the zoning code. Months later, the pandemic delayed the work.

For a time, the firm's proposal called for allowing granny flats in single-family neighborhoods if certain requirements were met.

At Monday's City Council meeting, Arista Strungys of Camiros detailed the proposed changes.

Asked about residents' feedback at town halls, she said most were focused on the proposal for accessory dwelling units.

"That was the biggest hot-button issue," Strungys said. "That was pretty much everything we heard. People were divided."

Because of that, she said, the city withdrew the language from the proposal, planning to deal with it separately. That way, the issue would not sidetrack officials from the larger project, she said.

During Monday's meeting, Alderwoman Noel Talluto asked Strungys whether the overhaul adds or removes regulations.

Strungys said it did both.

"The idea for us wasn't that it should be more restrictive or more permissive," she said. "It was to look at individual issues and address them that way and try to address them simply, so that it's not difficult to understand what you can and cannot do."

Talluto explained why she asked the question.

"I would prefer to reduce regulations because the more regulations we have, the more expensive it is to build, and we are actually trying to make things more affordable to build," she said.

The proposed code changes will be sent to the council's zoning committee for a closer analysis, officials said.