Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Forest Park town hall debates residential zoning rewrite amid flooding and process concerns
Summary
At a Forest Park town hall, the village building director defended proposed residential zoning changes intended to bring older, nonconforming homes into compliance while residents and at least one commissioner pressed for data, environmental analysis and stronger protections for stormwater and neighborhood character.
Forest Park residents pressed village officials on a proposed rewrite of the residential zoning code Tuesday night, questioning whether restoring smaller lot standards and increasing lot coverage would worsen flooding, enable teardowns and proceed without sufficient data.
Steve Glinky, the village building department director, said the changes are meant to "harmonize" the village's patchwork of older lots and to return many preexisting smaller lots to conformity. "These changes are not gonna cause a massive uptick in development Forest Park," Glinky told about two hours of attendees, and he said the Planning & Zoning Commission approved the residential draft 6-0 before the ordinance reached council.
The draft would, by Glinky's count, make 803 25-foot lots conforming again and would raise allowable lot coverage in some zones; he argued permitting requirements, engineering reviews and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) oversight would…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
