Politics
Chicago’s Bird-Friendly Building Ordinance Freed From City Council Limbo, Zoning Committee Is Next Hurdle
Chicago City Hall is pictured in a file photo. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
A proposed bird-friendly building ordinance was sprung from legislative limbo during Wednesday’s Chicago City Council meeting.
The ordinance, which would establish design standards intended to prevent bird deaths from building collisions, was introduced in March. Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward) invoked a procedure that sent the ordinance to the Rules Committee, commonly known as the place where legislation goes to die.
Ald. Maria Hadden (49th Ward), who introduced the bird-friendly ordinance, later told WTTW News the legislation still had life in it.
At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Hadden invoked a procedural rule that allowed for the ordinance to be discharged from Rules without further discussion, simply requiring a majority affirmative vote from her fellow alderpeople.
Hadden had the votes, and the bird-friendly ordinance has now been sent to the Zoning Committee for consideration. A hearing is tentatively scheduled for July 21.
Advocates in favor of the ordinance had marshaled their resources in recent months, applying pressure to alderpeople and taking their campaign to the public via social media.
Supporters of the measure include architect Jeanne Gang, who made bird-friendly design the centerpiece of “Flyway City,” an exhibit her firm mounted in collaboration with the Chicago Architecture Center.
“We really don’t need to be killing birds with our buildings,” Gang said at a preview of the exhibit. “It’s not necessary and it’s so avoidable.”
Bird-friendly building legislation — intended to help stem the epidemic of birds killed and injured in collisions with Chicago buildings — was previously stymied in 2020.
Back then, City Council kicked the issue to the Department of Planning and Development, instructing the department to give greater weight to bird-friendly mitigations within Chicago’s Sustainable Development Policy.
It was a blow to bird advocates: Only 50 to 75 projects per year are subject to targets set by the Sustainable Development Policy, leaving scores of other buildings exempt from implementing any bird-friendly mitigations.
The ordinance currently under consideration is far more expansive and would apply to all new construction as well as extensive renovation projects, with several exemptions, including for residential buildings of three units or fewer.
Heather Cherone contributed to this report.
Contact Patty Wetli: [email protected]
