Zoning Committee to vote on Pilsen landmark district in early December, aldermen say

As community advocates continue to push back against a proposal to turn the Pilsen neighborhood into a landmark district, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) said the Zoning Committee he chairs is now slated to cast a crucial vote on the long-delayed plan in early December.

The news came Sunday after protesters disrupted the brunch rush at Tunney’s Ann Sather restaurant in Lake View. As activists in a passing car caravan blared their horns, others stormed the kitchen where Tunney was working and raised concerns the proposed ordinance would lead to further gentrification and added costs for building owners.

“[Tunney is] very upset right now,” Moises Moreno, an organizer with Pilsen Alliance, told reporters after disrupting the brunch service. “He should be — because he’s messing with the wrong community.”

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Tunney later told the Sun-Times a vote has been set for the Dec. 1 Zoning Committee meeting. And while he acknowledged the “neighborhood will probably win out,” Tunney warned that rejecting the plan would leave its historic buildings open for demolition.

Meanwhile, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25^th) sided with his constituents and continued to oppose the proposed ordinance, which initially sought to create a landmark district covering nearly 900 buildings from the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

“It would absolutely mean more displacement [and] higher costs. It will certainly accelerate a process that the people have been concerned about,” said Sigcho-Lopez, adding that at least 10,000 primarily Latino residents have been pushed out of Pilsen over the last decade.

On Thursday, WBEZ reported Chicago’s planning commissioner, Maurice Cox, pitched a new option that would protect 465 buildings in the neighborhood. Sigho-Lopez scoffed at that proposal as he continued pushing a separate ordinance that would create a “demolition-free” zone covering the same area as the proposed historic landmark district plus the site of St. Adalbert’s Church.

The lengthy battle over Pilsen’s landmark designation was extended in May, when Sigcho-Lopez and other members of the City Council voted unanimously on a six-month delay to accommodate the needs of the Chicago Department of Planning and Development. Given the Landmarks Commission already approved the plan last May, an ordinance is set to take effect in January if it’s not voted on.

However, Sigcho-Lopes claimed Tunney and Mayor Lori Lightfoot “unilaterally decided to vote on this extension” instead of allowing a vote ahead of the initial deadline in May.

“It is disingenuous for them to keep repeating that I voted in favor of the ordinance [when] their procedural maneuvers left me no choice,” he said.

Lightfoot’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment, but Tunney said he was abundantly clear about the timeline.

“We had three ... Zoom meetings, and I told the aldermen that subsequent to the three meetings, we would be on the next Zoning Committee,” he said.

But for Kyle Frayn, a Pilsen resident who attended Sunday’s protest, the drawn-out process serves as an example of “the city machine politics trampling the community’s interests and needs.”

Tom Schuba/Sun-Times