I don’t think we can all live on these monstrous lots. We don’t need to be buying more oil from the Middle East, so we can all live on these big lots.
Attorney Bob Kowalski, who represents the purchaser and most recent owner of 6232 N. Keating in Sauganash, as quoted by Reporter & Journal Nadig Newspapers

Bill Mayeroff from Nadig reports (Vol. 43 #25 week of 6/24/07, front page) that a property at 6232 N. Keating in Sauganash changed ownership recently (see picture below).

The lot measures 60′ x 111′, and happens to be located in an RS-3 zone (most parcels in Sauganash are zoned RS-1 and RS-2). According to the Chicago Zoning Ordinance, RS-3 zoned properties must have a minimum lot area of 2,500 square feet. Apparently, the new owner of this parcel wants to subdivide this lot and improve it with two new homes. And he is well within his rights, because a 30′ x 111′ lot still meets the RS-3 land area requirement. Nearby residents in Sauganash though, are concerned about adverse changes to the character and density of the neighborhood, and have turned to Ald. Margaret Laurino for help. Ald. Laurino’s hands are tied, of course, because the developer has done everything by the book, so far.

I spoke on the phone with a very helpful aide from the alderman’s office, this morning, who let me know that Mrs. Laurino would meet with Sauganash residents this evening to discuss the downzoning of the “island” that’s zoned RS-3 in Sauganash (see picture below).

To Mr. Kowalski I would submit that it’s not really a secret that your client would be making more money by selling two homes rather than one. As you well know, multi-unit condo developers back out of purchase contracts all the time when they find out during due diligence that they wouldn’t be allowed to build as many units as they would like to. And they’re not bashful at all about disclosing that their profit goals wouldn’t be met if they had to abide by aldermanic restrictions. It’s the American way, and your client is well within his rights. So please do us all a favor, and refrain from boring us with stories about dependence on Middle East oil. Or else, we’ll remind your client of the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest when he’s ready to put in those shiny Brazilian cherry floors in his new developments on Keating.

Zoning map, courtesy of City of Chicago Zoning Dept.

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