Another Oak Lawn Neighborhood Gears Up For Rezoning Battle

Another Oak Lawn neighborhood appears to be organizing opposition to a proposed rezoning of a low-density residential area.

Residents near the 9700 block of Melvina Avenue recently received a public notice informing them of a hearing for a petition to rezone two properties at 9711 & 9713 Melvina Avenue. The properties are currently zoned as low-density single-family R1. The petition asks that the properties be rezoned to high-density multi-family R3.

The properties at 9711 and 9713 Melvina Avenue once had an unkempt small house and wooded lot. The lots have since been cleared in preparation for future development. The properties are currently zoned R-1, as are the adjacent properties and the properties across the street. This limits development to single family homes.

An R-3 zoning would allow for a multi-family development, boarding and lodging houses, small and large community residences, row houses, townhouses or garden-type homes. In an R-3 zone, buildings can be as tall as 3 stories and 40 feet.

By Village ordinance, in an R-3 zone, buildings must cover no more than 40% of a lot. These two lots, if combined, would be just shy of 21,000 square feet. If one large multi-family dwelling were built, it could cover 8,400 square feet.

Village ordinance also allows for a multi-family dwelling to have one unit per 1,500 square feet of land. This would allow for approximately 14 units on a combined property of this size.

On Melvina Avenue, between 97^th Street and Southwest Highway, neighbors have begun placing signs on their lawns, in opposition to the petition. Nearly every house had a sign [pictured below] on the lawn.

By law, the Village of Oak Lawn is required to send out a notice of a public hearing to any property owners within 300 feet of the properties. The hearing will be held at Village Hall before the Planning & Development Commission on May 16^th, 2016 at 7:30^pm.

Update [May 11, 2016, 3:33pm]: The public hearing for the 9711 & 9713 rezoning has been rescheduled, according to Village Manager Larry Deetjen. The public hearing will now be held June 6^th, 2016.