Meeting set on 18-unit building proposal on Narragansett near Belle Plaine in 38th Ward
by BRIAN NADIG
Alderman Nicholas Sposato (38th) will hold a community meeting Thursday, Aug. 3, on a proposed 18-unit residential building at 4125 N. Narragansett Ave. in Portage Park.
The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Merrimac Park fieldhouse, 6343 W. Irving Park Road.
The proposal, which includes 18 on-site parking spaces, calls for the approximately 18,000-square-foot property to be rezoned from RS-2 to the less restrictive RT-4. The block includes other RT-4-zoned properties,.
“It’s a very deep lot … 300 feet, (and) there’s RT-4 on both sides,” Sposato said.
The existing single-family home on the site is in poor condition and would be demolished under the plans, Sposato said.
In other news regarding the 38th Ward, the City Council at its July 19 meeting approved the rezoning of a former bank site at 5900 W. Irving Park Road from B3-1 to C1-1 to allow for a marijuana dispensary.
A special use from the Zoning Board of Appeals is required but could not be applied for until the property was rezoned.
“This is an acceptable business now,” Sposato said of dispensaries. He added that he checked with other aldermen and there have been no reported problems with cannabis dispensaries in their wards.
A dispensary would bring more people to the commercial corridor, helping other area businesses, Sposato said.
Sposato said that he plans to hold a community meeting on the dispensary proposal prior to the zoning board’s hearing on the matter. The hearing has not been scheduled.
