Oak Park board adopts emergency rehabilitation and small-rental loan guideline changes, updates residential rehab program

The Village Board of Oak Park voted to create a standalone Emergency Residential Rehabilitation Loan Program and to amend guidelines for small rental and residential rehabilitation loan programs after a months-long staff review and recommendations from the Housing Programs Advisory Committee.

Assistant Village Manager and Neighborhood Services Director Jonathan Birch presented the package. Birch told the board the housing programs had not been substantially updated since 2012 and shared staff concerns about declining participation: "At 1 time, the goal was to be able to do about 10 projects a year through that program. And in very recent years, we've been doing 2 to 3 a year," he said. To reduce confusion and improve access, staff proposed splitting the existing emergency loan provision out of the single-family guidelines, clarifying eligible dwelling types and adjusting loan maximums and affordability periods.

Item I: Emergency Residential Rehabilitation Loan Program

The board concurred with the Housing Programs Advisory Committee and adopted a resolution creating a separate Emergency Rehabilitation Program (Item I). Staff said the program will remain a deferred loan (no interest) with a typical minimum of $500 and a maximum of $5,000, a five-year deferred repayment term and will draw from the village's revolving loan fund. Birch said a separate guideline should make the program easier for residents and code compliance officers to find and use; historically the village issued about seven emergency loans over the past decade.

Item J: Small Rental Property Rehabilitation

Trustees also approved amended small rental program guidelines (Item J). The changes raise the potential per-unit subsidy and allow up to $25,000 per unit in certain cases, while linking deeper interventions to federal lead-based-paint (lead hazard) triggers that come into effect at higher subsidy levels. Birch said the higher per-unit amount is intended to enable more substantial repairs in two- and three-flat rental buildings and that an extended affordability period — proposed up to 20 years for larger subsidies — is designed to protect low-income tenants in exchange for higher per-unit public investment.

Item H: Residential Rehabilitation (formerly Single-Family)

The board approved updates to the residential rehabilitation program (Item H) that reflect expanded eligible dwelling types (owner-occupied 1–4 unit properties and certain townhomes), remove a 1% application fee and add clearer language for garage repairs, accessibility upgrades and energy-efficiency measures. Birch said staff will emphasize outreach and customer assistance because attrition in the application pipeline has limited production: from roughly 35 initial inquiries, staff said about half are screened out as likely ineligible, approximately 17–18 are invited to apply and historically only about three complete full applications and proceed to contract.

Board discussion and next steps

Trustees praised the policy direction but requested further refinements. Several trustees asked staff to consider scaling affordability periods more linearly as loan amounts increase and to explore an interest or buyout mechanism if an owner repays early, so the village regains funding for future affordable-housing work. Trustee Straw asked about energy and climate elements and urged bundling energy-efficiency grants with rehabilitation projects where federal rules allow. Birch said some stacking has occurred historically but federal funding and lead-hazard triggers constrain how dollars can be combined.

Clerk Waters recorded the votes on each item. The roll calls show unanimous approval for Item I and Item J, and Item H passed with one abstention (Trustee Westlake). The board instructed staff to return with recommended refinements to affordability periods, interest/repayment options and implementation measures, and to continue monitoring program metrics and equity outcomes.