Municipal League: Housing reform could strip authority from local communities

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The Illinois Municipal League says a new proposal for housing reform could allow the state to take zoning control away from local communities.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker introduced the Building Up Illinois Developments plan during his budget address on Wednesday and said local regulations have made it too costly and difficult to build new housing.

“This is an ambitious slate of reforms designed to eliminate unnecessary barriers and lower costs for housing construction, produce a wider range of family-friendly housing types and streamline construction processes,” Pritzker said.

Illinois Municipal League CEO Brad Cole expressed concern that the governor’s proposal would take control over housing away from local communities.

“So it removes the local land use zoning authority from the planning commission or zoning board or city council, and it strictly dictates those parameters in state law,” Cole told The Center Square.

Pritzker said rent is too high and home ownership is too far out of reach, but Cole said the governor’s proposal addressed a lot of things that don’t affect the cost of housing.

“Issues with the number of stairs that are in an apartment building or the setback distance around single-family homes or allowing new development on individual lots, a number of those things, including maybe the timeline for inspections, don’t add a lot of cost to housing,” Cole said.

The IML CEO said inflated housing costs are affected by the price of goods and services and actual construction costs.

Cole said local officials are doing everything they can to incentivize home ownership and housing development.

Chicagoland Apartment Association Executive Vice President Michael Mini said the BUILD Illinois proposal represents a meaningful step toward modernizing the state’s housing policy framework.

“By streamlining zoning restrictions, allowing for greater development, reducing barriers such as lengthy permitting timelines, and investing in infrastructure, BUILD Illinois moves the conversation toward practical, long-term solutions that expand housing supply,” Mini said in a statement.

Mini also said that increasing taxes, fees or regulatory hurdles would drive up costs, reduce development and limit the supply of quality housing.

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