Differing results seen on two plans to subdivide area lots
by BRIAN NADIG
A proposal to subdivide a residential lot in Old Irving Park is moving forward, while a plan to subdivide a lot in Mayfair reportedly has been dropped.
The Zoning Board of Appeals at its Nov. 18 meeting approved a yard variation that will allow construction of a second house on a 7,750-square-foot lot at 4107-09 N. Kenneth Ave. Plans call for an existing 113-year-old home on the site to remain.
Alderman John Arena’s chief of staff Owen Brugh said that initial plans called for a zoning change because the proposed new home would have been too large under the existing RS-2 zoning of the site.
Brugh said that Arena decided not to support the rezoning after meeting with the leaders of the Old Irving Park Association. Over the years the association has worked with city officials to downzone parts of the area to help preserve the oversized lots in the area.
The size of the house was scaled back to conform to the floor area requirements of RS-2, although a minor yard variation was still needed, Brugh said.
The variation allows for reduction of the north-yard setback from the required 4 feet to 3.56 feet for the existing home on the property. The south setback will be 8.75 feet.
The size of the new lot will be similar to several other properties on the block.
Also, a developer apparently is no longer seeking to subdivide a lot at 4436 N. Kilbourn Ave. to allow two homes on the site, according to Mayfair Civic Association president Ron Duplack. A 127-year-old frame house is located on the oversized lot.
Duplack said that a project official told him of the decision before the association’s Nov. 10 meeting, at which a discussion of the project had been planned.
Several blocks in Mayfair were downzoned about years ago at the urging of the association to help preserve green space and the predominantly single-family home atmosphere of the area. Mayfair had experienced an increase in subdivided lots and new multi-family buildings during the real estate boom of the early and mid 2000s.
In addition, an application recently was filed to have a parcel at 4315-17 W. School St. rezoned to allow two single-family on the site. There is one house on the lot at present.
The zoning board delayed a decision on a proposal to divide a parcel at 4315-21 W. Henderson St. into three zoning lots at its Nov. 18 meeting. A three-story, three-unit building would remain under the proposal.
The zoning board is a five-member panel which acts independently of the City Council.
