Could La Grange East Side Change Under Plan?

LA GRANGE, IL – A proposed La Grange plan calls for allowing triplexes and fourplexes in a neighborhood on the village's east side.

The neighborhood is in the village's northeastern corner and includes Hayes, Sawyer and Washington avenues. It is more diverse than the rest of the town.

Now, the neighborhood has a zoning designation that allows single-family houses and duplexes.

During Monday's Village Board meeting, Trustee Glenn Thompson said it was "just strange" that allowing more duplexes and triplexes would only apply to the east side and a small strip along La Grange Road.

"If we're going to protect the east side, we need to protect the east side and not just turn it into a whole teardown section," Thompson said. "You'll find a couple of houses for sale there now. A builder would jump and tear it down and build a threeplex or a fourplex in a heartbeat because he knows he can make his money back on it."

He said he had spoken with residents in the neighborhood, including Trustee Shawana McGee, who was not at Monday's meeting.

"They weren't really happy to see that pushed onto their area," Thompson said. "This is an area of single-family homes."

Village President Mark Kuchler said he shared Thompson's concerns. But he said some buildings in that area needed to be torn down because they were in bad shape.

Thompson, Kuchler and Trustee Beth Augustine all expressed concern that developers would end up taking big sections of streets if the village allowed triplexes and fourplexes.

But the village's community development director, Charity Jones, pointed to another provision of the proposed long-term plan: "The development types (triplexes and fourplexes) are not anticipated, or encouraged, to be employed through large-scale redevelopment. Rather, these formats are intended for infill development on one or two existing lots."

The Village Board did not vote on the plan. Even if trustees approve it, they would still need to change the village's zoning code to allow triplexes and fourplexes.