5 Things You Need to Know About Oak Park's New Zoning Ordinance

The first draft of recommended changes in the Village of Oak Park Zoning Ordinance is finished, the village announced today, and will be publicly presented Thursday.

A draft of the changes is available online here, on a website the village has dedicated entirely to the zoning project. Residents are also invited to publicly comment on the site.

Oak Park’s new zoning ordinance, its website states, will be a key tool for implementing policies outlined in the “Envision Oak Park” Comprehensive Plan and will regulate the use of land in the village, how it’s used for building and how new structures will be designed and built.

Confused about what’s going on? We have answers for some of the questions you might have before Thursday night.

What is Zoning?

There's no shame in asking such a simple question: zoning regulates what structures and land are used for, Oak Park’s site states. It specifically regulates where on a lot a structure will sit, how large or small that structure should be, and how parking lots, landscaping and accessory structures fit into the lot. “A good zoning ordinance is, among other things, dependent upon a careful understanding of existing patterns of land use, development and ownership, as well as an agreement as to how to policies of the [Comprehensive] Plan are interpreted and applied within the Village,” the website explains.

What is the “Envision Oak Park” Comprehensive Plan?

This plan, adopted in late 2014, was an initiative to create a future plan for Oak Park. A comprehensive plan in and of itself is a community’s vision for its future, the Village of Oak Park’s website states — a future that will aid in growth and development of the community while retaining its character. According to the plan itself, which can be found in full here, developing “Envision Oak Park” started with a public outreach program that allowed residents, businesses, agencies, nonprofits and local governments to provide input and recommendations for building a plan.

“Envision Oak Park” has and will continue to measure itself based on five core principals officials find paramount to the Oak Park community: diversity, urban sustainability, respect for Oak Park’s history and legacy, thriving neighborhoods and collaboration and cooperation.

How do the Comprehensive Plan and the creation of a new zoning ordinance relate to one another?

The goal of the new zoning ordinance, the Village of Oak Park states, is to better align local laws with recommendations provided in the “Envision Oak Park” plan. The new zoning ordinance is being built to help push the plan forward. “Envision Oak Park” includes both mapped and written policies suggesting how land should be used in the village, and the new ordinance will use these suggestions as its base.

Don’t we have an existing ordinance? Why do we need a new one?

Oak Park does have a zoning ordinance, but village officials don’t think it is growing the community in line with goals outlined in “Envision Oak Park.” Zoning ordinances also have to be updated, the ordinance website states, because the landscape of the community changes and ordinances may be outdated.

Who should go to the presentation Thursday?

Anyone who’s interested. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Thursday’s public presentation will take place at 7 p.m., Oct. 20 in the Veterans’ Room at Oak Park’s Main Public Library on 834 Lake St. A public hearing on the draft zoning ordinance is expected to take place in mid-November at Village Hall. Patch will keep you updated.

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