“This notion of, `Oh, my goodness. The sky is falling. We will never have development again in the city of Chicago really is insulting to the intelligence of us all,” the mayor said.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s chief sustainability officer cited an asphalt plant that opened directly across from McKinley Park two years ago as an example of an industrial zoning issue that would get more public scrutiny under the mayor’s proposed ordinance. Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Mayor Lori Lightfoot tried Wednesday to shoot down what she called “nonsense” and “sky-is-falling” arguments about stifled development that stalled her crackdown on industrial polluters.
One day after her ordinance got hung up in the City Council’s Zoning Committee amid opposition from both sides, Lightfoot started fighting back to, as she put it, “separate truth from fiction.”
She specifically took aim at arguments by aldermen Patrick Daley Thompson (11th) and Brendan Reilly (42nd) that developers need more freedom than the mayor’s ordinance provides or they won’t build in Chicago.
“This notion of, `Oh, my goodness. The sky is falling. We will never have development again in the city of Chicago really is insulting to the intelligence of us all. … What we’re trying to accomplish is the same level of oversight that happens with gas stations. They haven’t gone out of business. They haven’t stopped opening up in the city of Chicago,” the mayor said.
Lightfoot said the MAT Asphalt plant that “essentially crept up overnight” in McKinley Park is a classic example of the kind of project she is determined to stop.
“Those residents had no say, no notice over that plant that is polluting and causing harm to that neighborhood. We have to change that around,” she said.
“Right now, if there is an approved planned development in an area and the current tenant leaves, a new tenant can go in with virtually any use by right and not have to seek the approval of anyone. Not the local alderman. And certainly not the mayor.”
Lightfoot also shot down the argument by Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) that the ordinance is a “power grab” authorizing mayoral-appointed bureaucrats to run roughshod over duly-elected aldermen.
“This isn’t about aldermanic prerogative or power. It’s about making sure that residents are protected and that they have fair notice when somebody is coming into their neighborhood who, potentially, could endanger their health through air quality issues,” she said.
“We have to give residents a fighting chance and the ability to impact the kind of things that are going into their neighborhoods.”
But what about the political embarrassment?
Lightfoot wants to change the city’s zoning laws to create additional regulatory hurdles for industrial polluters who set up near homes, schools and parks. But it’s stalled in committee and likely to say there until a major re-write.
“We plan to absolutely move forward with it. I’m confident that we will get it passed. … I believe that the continued engagement that we are going to do over the next couple of weeks will ensure its passage,” the mayor said.
Lightfoot refused to say whether she was willing to make substantive changes, but it’s clear that’s what it will take.
Zoning Committee Chairman Tom Tunney (44th) has said the ordinance “needs more work.” He has advised top mayoral aides to “spent more time on both sides of the aisle.”
Reilly has voiced concern about “transferring a tremendous amount of local control” to a Zoning Board of Appeals that has rendered decisions that “impact communities in pretty substantial ways, despite overwhelming opposition” from area residents, the local aldermen and police commander.
• During a news conference after Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Lightfoot said a recent arbitrator’s ruling involving clerks at Chicago Public Schools would have no impact on her upcoming decision on whether or not to re-open schools to at least some in-classroom learning during the second quarter.
She promised a decision shortly on whether or not to return to her “hybrid” plan to bring all but high school seniors back to the classroom two days-a-week.
• Also on Wednesday, Lightfoot blamed a “partisan” legislature and state supreme court in Wisconsin for the rapid rise in coronavirus cases there that has prompted Chicago Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady to urge Chicago residents to avoid Wisconsin like the plague.
The mayor said the fact that a state has to open a field hospital in October to prevent its hospital system from being overwhelmed is a “disgrace.” She urged Wisconsin voters to “take note of that.”
Mayor Lori Lightfoot tried Wednesday to shoot down what she called “nonsense” and “sky-is-falling” arguments about stifled development that stalled her crackdown on industrial polluters.
One day after her ordinance got hung up in the City Council’s Zoning Committee amid opposition from both sides, Lightfoot started fighting back to, as she put it, “separate truth from fiction.”
She specifically took aim at arguments by aldermen Patrick Daley Thompson (11th) and Brendan Reilly (42nd) that developers need more freedom than the mayor’s ordinance provides or they won’t build in Chicago.
“This notion of, `Oh, my goodness. The sky is falling. We will never have development again in the city of Chicago really is insulting to the intelligence of us all. … What we’re trying to accomplish is the same level of oversight that happens with gas stations. They haven’t gone out of business. They haven’t stopped opening up in the city of Chicago,” the mayor said.
Lightfoot said the MAT Asphalt plant that “essentially crept up overnight” in McKinley Park is a classic example of the kind of project she is determined to stop.
“Those residents had no say, no notice over that plant that is polluting and causing harm to that neighborhood. We have to change that around,” she said.
“Right now, if there is an approved planned development in an area and the current tenant leaves, a new tenant can go in with virtually any use by right and not have to seek the approval of anyone. Not the local alderman. And certainly not the mayor.”
Lightfoot also shot down the argument by Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) that the ordinance is a “power grab” authorizing mayoral-appointed bureaucrats to run roughshod over duly-elected aldermen.
“This isn’t about aldermanic prerogative or power. It’s about making sure that residents are protected and that they have fair notice when somebody is coming into their neighborhood who, potentially, could endanger their health through air quality issues,” she said.
“We have to give residents a fighting chance and the ability to impact the kind of things that are going into their neighborhoods.”
But what about the political embarrassment?
Lightfoot wants to change the city’s zoning laws to create additional regulatory hurdles for industrial polluters who set up near homes, schools and parks. But it’s stalled in committee and likely to say there until a major re-write.
“We plan to absolutely move forward with it. I’m confident that we will get it passed. … I believe that the continued engagement that we are going to do over the next couple of weeks will ensure its passage,” the mayor said.
Lightfoot refused to say whether she was willing to make substantive changes, but it’s clear that’s what it will take.
Zoning Committee Chairman Tom Tunney (44th) has said the ordinance “needs more work.” He has advised top mayoral aides to “spent more time on both sides of the aisle.”
Reilly has voiced concern about “transferring a tremendous amount of local control” to a Zoning Board of Appeals that has rendered decisions that “impact communities in pretty substantial ways, despite overwhelming opposition” from area residents, the local aldermen and police commander.
• During a news conference after Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Lightfoot said a recent arbitrator’s ruling involving clerks at Chicago Public Schools would have no impact on her upcoming decision on whether or not to re-open schools to at least some in-classroom learning during the second quarter.
She promised a decision shortly on whether or not to return to her “hybrid” plan to bring all but high school seniors back to the classroom two days-a-week.
• Also on Wednesday, Lightfoot blamed a “partisan” legislature and state supreme court in Wisconsin for the rapid rise in coronavirus cases there that has prompted Chicago Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady to urge Chicago residents to avoid Wisconsin like the plague.
The mayor said the fact that a state has to open a field hospital in October to prevent its hospital system from being overwhelmed is a “disgrace.” She urged Wisconsin voters to “take note of that.”
Do you ever notice that this mayor always blames someone else?
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