October 2003

Zoning News

Copyright by American Planning Association

Illinois Enacts Housing Appeals, Planning Statute

By Stuart Meck, FAICP

Following Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, Illinois has become the fourth state in the U.S. to enact an affordable housing appeals statute. In August, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich signed the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeals Act, an adaptation of a model law from APA's Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook, published last year.

The law authorized an appeal to a state-level board by developers of affordable housing projects whose application to a local government is either denied or approved with conditions that make the affordable housing infeasible. The board may affirm, reverse, or modify the conditions of, or add conditions to, a permitting decision made by the local government. The appeals statute does not apply to essential requirements that affect health and safety, such as building, fire, or electrical codes. The law exempts local governments when at least 10 percent of their year-round housing units are affordable, as determined by the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IDHA) under standards contained in the act. Also excluded are municipalities with populations under 1,000.

The law defines an affordable housing development as any housing that is either subsidized by the federal or state government or any housing in which at least 20 percent of the dwelling units are subject to covenants or restrictions that require that the dwelling units be sold or rented at prices that preserve them as affordable housing for 15 years, in the case of for-sale housing, or at least 30 years, in the case of rental housing. It adopts the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's definition of affordability so that housing costs constitute no more than 30 percent of gross annual household income, adjusted by household size.

"The lack of affordable, accessible, and safe housing affects the residents of every municipality in the state," said State Representative Julie Hamos (D-Evanston), one of the law's sponsors. "I supported this important law because it will create housing options for workers closer to their job sites as well as for seniors who would like to retire in their own community."

However, in contrast to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut statutes, the Illinois law contains a housing planning requirement for non-exempt local governments. Prior to July 1, 2004, such governments must approve a plan that:

• states the number of affordable housing units necessary to exempt the local government from the act.
• identifies lands within the local government's jurisdiction that are suitable for affordable housing and structures that are most appropriate for rehabilitation or conversion to affordable housing.
• specifies incentives that the local government may offer developers to spur affordable housing construction.
• establishes a specific affordable housing goal. The local government can decide whether affordable housing is to be a minimum of 15 percent of all new development or redevelopment in the community or a three percent increase in the percentage of existing affordable units. Alternately, the government can set a fixed affordable housing goal of 10 percent of the housing stock.

State Senator Iris Martinez (D–Chicago), another sponsor, says the law is intended to get local governments and developers to work together to agree on an approach to affordable housing. The major beneficiaries of the law would be groups like teachers and police officers, who are employed in a community but who may not be able to afford to live there. She said she was particularly proud that the Illinois Municipal League, which opposed an earlier version of the law, helped draft revisions that ensured its passage.

This is the second planning law enacted by the Illinois legislature over the past year. The first was the Local Planning Technical Assistance Act of 2002, which clarified requirements for local comprehensive planning and authorized, but did not appropriate, grants for planning.

"The legislature realized they could pass planning legislation and not burn in Hell," quipped Sharon Caddigan, AICP, chair of the Illinois APA legislative committee, and assistant community development director of Streamwood, a Chicago suburb. Still, lack of state funding for the new affordable housing law will also be a problem in gaining acceptance of the law's mandates. Under the law, Caddigan predicts, "Communities that have resources will be able to do something. Communities that don't have those resources will be adversely impacted," and may be subject to appeals to the state-level board.

Caddigan also pointed to a disconnect in the statute: the deadline for preparing the local housing plans is July 1, 2004, but the IDHA does not have to complete its list of exempt and non-exempt governments until January 1, 2006.

In September, Governor Blagojevich also approved a sweeping executive order to create a broad-based, integrated comprehensive plan to coordinate the creation of affordable housing across Illinois. A task force, composed of the director of the IHDA, other state agency heads, housing experts, and developers, will formulate the plan. Their deadline for the initial plan is December 31.

"For the first time in our state's history," said Robin Snyderman, housing director for the Metropolitan Planning Council, a Chicago-based regional planning, policy, and advocacy organization, "we actually have legislation and leadership from the governor's office that not only encourages municipal leaders to address the housing needs of the people who live and work in their communities, but also introduces an element of accountability for municipalities and counties who are behind the curve."