Elmhurst Panel Divided On Bigger Garden Tents

ELMHURST, IL — Members of a key Elmhurst committee on Tuesday expressed different views on the size of garden tents that the city should allow. It's been a controversial issue in town for a few years.

In February 2019, a split City Council voted to continue the city's ban on such tents, known as hoop houses, with then-Mayor Steve Morley breaking a tie.

Recently, a City Council committee, with City Manager Jim Grabowski as its representative, asked the commission to consider allowing 120-square-foot tents, 9 feet in height, for six months a year.

The proposal prompted nearly 140 written comments, posted on the city's website. All of them favored ending the ban. Most preferred 400 square feet, which they said would give residents more room to grow food during the winter.

Hoop house supporters contend they should have the right to grow their own food.

At a commission meeting Tuesday, member Kevin Byrnes noted more than 100 comments favored expanding the number to 400 square feet.

"Why was 120 square feet chosen?" he asked.

Byrnes said a comparison with other towns showed 500 square feet was common.

"Personally, I'm inclined more toward the 400 feet," he said.

Member Dave Garland agreed, also noting the public comments.

"I'm inclined to support the 400 feet as well, where there is clearly some passion around the hoop house and ability to grow food," he said.

He said he doesn't see a similar passion for other types of tents in town.

But member Carol Snyder said she wouldn't want to exceed the 120 square feet, saying 400 square feet was "going to an extreme." The larger structures could present a safety concern, she said, especially if they are set up improperly.

Besides, Snyder said, the city must treat all tents equally.

The commission's chairwoman, Susan Rose, said a new state law, which promotes people's right to grow their own food, requires towns to treat all structures similarly. Rose also said residents could seek variations from the rules.

Fairview Avenue residents Dan and Nicole Virgil, who have led the local movement against the hoop house ban, spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Dan Virgil said that for the city's allowance of hoop houses to be meaningful, residents should be allowed to go up to 400 square feet. That would allow them to grow "a full amount" of food on their property during the winter.

Nicole Virgil said she attended the legislature's hearings on the new state law. Lawmakers, she said, wanted to end discrimination against tents for gardens. The law allows people to have freedom on their own properties to grow food, she said.

She said Elmhurst residents were smart and would construct tents that are safe, particularly because they want nothing on their properties that would do damage.

She said she did not call for the community to attend Tuesday's meeting. Only a handful of people showed up.

"If the commission were to recommend a smaller size, the community would rise up as needed to get this across the finish line," Nicole Virgil said.

Rose said she knew the city received a lot of emails about the topic. But she said her panel must look at the issue differently from elected officials.

"We need to consider land use and what is reasonable," Rose said.

At the commission level, she said, members must examine the issue without regard to whether its meeting room is packed or not.

The commission plans to resume its discussion of the issue at its meeting at 7 p.m. Dec. 7 at City Hall.

After the commission makes its recommendation, the matter would then go to the City Council's Development, Planning and Zoning Committee. The full council would have the final say.