Community Participates in Open House to Share Ideas on North Chicago’s Future Land Use
The City of North Chicago’s Economic Development team recently hosted a public Open House to gather community input as part of the development of a new Unified Development Ordinance (UDO).
A UDO brings a community’s zoning, development, subdivision, and related land-use regulations together into one coordinated set of rules. These regulations help guide how property can be used and developed while streamlining the process for commercial developments and residential projects.
For example, whether a large developer is considering a project such as Sheridan Crossing or a homeowner is looking to make improvements to a property, a Unified Development Ordinance is designed to provide clearer and more consistent guidance.
During the Open House, community members were invited to share their ideas about community priorities, development issues, and the future of North Chicago. The feedback will help inform the city’s consultants as they develop the city’s next set of zoning and subdivision regulations.
Chicago Tribune/Lake County News-Sun reporter Steve Sadin attended the event and spoke with Taylor Wegrzyn, the city’s director of economic and community development.
“North Chicago is starting to take steps to create a comprehensive development ordinance to put more than 50 years of zoning and subdivision regulations into one law, removing everything that might be obsolete,” Wegrzyn said.
“We’re clarifying and modernizing the city’s rules and methods of organizing them,” Wegrzyn said. “The current zoning code has more than 100 amendments to it. It’s time to condense and modernize it. We must reorganize it into something you can make sense of.”
Wegrzyn said the 16-month project begins with listening to the city’s stakeholders, including businesses of all sizes; governmental entities at the state, county, and local levels; schools; the U.S. Navy; and members of the public.
Sadin also spoke with North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham Jr. about the project. Mayor Rockingham explained that the effort is about more than rewriting and modernizing existing codes. It requires a thoughtful approach that considers the different ideas and perspectives shared throughout the process.
“If we work together, we can create regulations that encourage investment, protect our neighborhoods and create opportunities for our residents,” he said. “The (ordinance) isn’t simply about rewriting our development regulations — it is about creating the framework for North Chicago’s next chapter.”
Once ideas and feedback have been gathered from city officials, residents, businesses, and other stakeholders, Wegrzyn said the consultant assisting with the project, Michigan-based McKenna Associates, will compile and analyze the information along with the city’s existing ordinances and other relevant regulations.
Kyle Mucha, a principal planner with McKenna, said the company will review comments and suggestions from all sources, study the existing zoning and subdivision ordinances and other relevant portions of the city code, and use that information to prepare an initial draft of the new ordinance.
The ordinance will address the city’s various zoning districts and the types of development appropriate for each area. Mucha said these include locations for single-family homes, multiple-dwelling units, neighborhood businesses, general businesses, various types of manufacturing, offices, and government-owned property.
North Chicago’s diverse community includes an industrial base ranging from small manufacturers to multinational corporations such as Abbott and AbbVie, as well as educational institutions such as Rosalind Franklin University and government-owned properties ranging from City Hall to Naval Station Great Lakes.
Wegrzyn said city officials are giving all these stakeholders an opportunity to participate in the process. Naval Station Great Lakes, however, does not fall under the city’s Unified Development Ordinance.