Politics
Key City Panel Votes 13-7 to Legalize Coach Houses, Granny Flats Across Chicago
A key City Council committee voted 13-7 on Tuesday to advance a proposal to allow people to build basement, attic and coach house dwellings on their property across the city without obtaining special permission from city officials.
The vote by the City Council’s Zoning Committee sends the proposal to the full City Council for a final vote on Wednesday. It has the support of Mayor Brandon Johnson as a way to chip away at Chicago’s massive shortage of affordable housing.
If approved, the measure would weaken the decades-old tradition known as aldermanic prerogative that gives a City Council member the final authority over housing developments in their own wards.
First proposed two years ago by Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th Ward), the ordinance would reverse the city’s 68-year ban on tiny homes, officially known as additional dwelling units, in an effort to add “gentle density to begin to address Chicago’s housing crisis.”
The measure would “give homeowners new tools to build equity and support their families, while helping us address Chicago’s housing shortage in a smart, sustainable way that supports multigenerational and flexible living,” Lawson said in a statement.
Although Lawson touted the measure that won the approval of the Zoning Committee as a “compromise,” it was fiercely condemned by supporters of aldermanic prerogative, who tout it as the best way to ensure that Chicago residents live in neighborhoods governed by one of their own: someone who lives near them, understands their issues and is not only accessible — but also accountable to them on Election Day.
“I don’t know what alderman in their right mind would give up this power,” Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward) said. “I’m trying to protect my community.”
A federal probe found that aldermanic prerogative fuels segregation in Chicago and violates the civil rights of Black and Latino residents by limiting the creation of affordable housing.
Beale falsely blamed the arrival of nearly 50,000 migrants from the southern border since 2022 for creating Chicago’s affordable housing shortage. In fact, low- and moderate-income Chicagoans have struggled for decades to find safe homes they can afford.
“We are destroying this city systematically,” Beale said, his voice rising in anger.
Ald. Byron Sigcho Lopez (25th Ward) called on the City Council to put “community prerogative” ahead of their own authority.
“Stop scapegoating immigrants,” Sigcho Lopez said.
Ald. Marty Quinn (13th Ward) said this proposal amounted to an “attack” on Chicago’s working class, and would cause residents to leave his Southwest Side ward, which is made up of single-family bungalows and other homes.
“This is being jammed down the throats of the Bungalow Belt,” Quinn said, adding that it would ruin the “integrity” of the city.
In 2021, the City Council approved the creation of coach houses and granny flats in five areas of the city, with the approval of those areas’ alderpeople.
City officials declared that the pilot program had been a roaring success, but efforts to allow tiny homes to be built citywide faced intense opposition from alderpeople who represent wards that have a majority of single-family homes.
To address those concerns, the proposed ordinance would allow no more than three new units to be built each year on each block in areas zoned for detached, single-family homes.
In addition, owners of single-family homes who want to add a second unit to their property would have to also live on the property, according to the revised proposal.
The alderperson of each ward could lift those limits and allow more tiny homes to be built in their wards.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
