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Gov. J.B. Pritzker introduced the Building Up Illinois
Developments plan during his budget address on Wednesday and
said local regulations have made it too costly and difficult to
build new housing.
“This is an ambitious slate of reforms designed to eliminate
unnecessary barriers and lower costs for housing construction,
produce a wider range of family-friendly housing types and
streamline construction processes,” Pritzker said.
Illinois Municipal League CEO Brad Cole expressed concern that
the governor’s proposal would take control over housing away
from local communities.
“So it removes the local land use zoning authority from the
planning commission or zoning board or city council, and it
strictly dictates those parameters in state law,” Cole told The
Center Square.
Pritzker said rent is too high and home ownership is too far out
of reach, but Cole said the governor’s proposal addressed a lot
of things that don’t affect the cost of housing.
“Issues with the number of stairs that are in an apartment
building or the setback distance around single-family homes or
allowing new development on individual lots, a number of those
things, including maybe the timeline for inspections, don’t add
a lot of cost to housing,” Cole said.
The IML CEO said inflated housing costs are affected by the
price of goods and services and actual construction costs.
Cole said local officials are doing everything they can to
incentivize home ownership and housing development.
Chicagoland Apartment Association Executive Vice President
Michael Mini said the BUILD Illinois proposal represents a
meaningful step toward modernizing the state’s housing policy
framework.
“By streamlining zoning restrictions, allowing for greater
development, reducing barriers such as lengthy permitting
timelines, and investing in infrastructure, BUILD Illinois moves
the conversation toward practical, long-term solutions that
expand housing supply,” Mini said in a statement.
Mini also said that increasing taxes, fees or regulatory hurdles
would drive up costs, reduce development and limit the supply of
quality housing.
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