'Historic' Affordable Housing Plan Passes In Northbrook

NORTHBROOK, IL — With what it is calling "historic amendments," the Northbrook Village Board unanimously voted last week to approve an affordable housing plan. Despite having adopted the 2005 Affordable Housing Plan, the Village had not fully implemented it. Following recommendations by the Northbrook Plan Commission, the Village Board adopted several ordinances that amend a number of area, including the municipal code, the Comprehensive Plan, the Affordable Housing Plan, and the Northbrook Zoning Code.

"The issue before us is important to us as a community, and it says a lot about who we are and what we will be. I believe we all care deeply about Northbrook," Village President Sandy Frum said after thanking the community for its input on the issue at the Dec. 8 Village Board meeting. "Having a goal of 10 percent affordable housing in Northbrook, and perhaps some day achieving that goal, is something that I've believed in for all of these years I've been on the Village Board."

At a June 2019 meeting, the Village Board initiated an application to achieve the various objectives regarding affordable housing. After setting that goal, according to Frum, the Village Board and Plan Commission have held 14 public meetings to discuss affordable housing.

"This has not been done in secret," Frum said in response to opponents of the plan saying more discussion on the topic is needed. "I actually know of no other topic that has been discussed so thoroughly, and at so many meetings in all of my years in public service."

Frum said the approved plan is based on an "exemplary model" used in Highland Park that has "been on the books for a number of years."

The Village adopted an Affordable Housing Plan in 2005 with the stated goal of increasing the supply of affordable housing units to 10 percent of the total housing stock. According to the Village Board agenda, the 2005 Affordable Housing Plan used the State of Illinois’ definition of "affordable housing," meaning that housing units for sale or rent are within the means of households that have "moderate-income" levels (households with income of 50 percent to 80 percent of the area median household income) or "low income" levels (affordable to households with income of no more than 50 percent of the area median household income).

Households are expected to have to pay no more than 30 percent of their income on housing. The latest estimates by the State of Illinois found that 5.70 percent of the housing units in Northbrook are affordable.

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A number of Northbrook residents spoke during the Dec. 8 meeting with a majority expressing their support for the plan. Frum also read nearly an hour of email comments on affordable housing.

"We've been talking about affordable housing for decades, before I was even born. We just haven't really accomplished it," Trustee Johannah Hebl said. "I think this will accomplish the goal of affordable housing."

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