Forest Park Village Council voted to retroactively approve two homes which, as the village acknowledged, was approved by mistake.
Both houses were built on lots that were zoned R-1. Under the current zoning code, they must at least 50 feet wide, but the lots at 7713 Wilcox St. and 838 Circle Ave. are 25 feet wide. Neither property owner should have been able to build anything on them without getting a zoning variance. By the time the issue was flagged, they were already part-way through construction.
In response, the village changed the review process to require a third party to review residential building permits – something that was previously only required for commercial properties. And it decided to allow the two property owners to apply for the zoning variances retroactively. The applications cleared the planning and zoning commission Nov. 20.
Commissioner Jessica Voogd said that while she felt that approving the Wilcox property was necessary, given the circumstances, she was leery of approving the Circle Avenue variances. While the former is hemmed in by homes on both sides, the latter is located next to the vacant lot at 836 Circle Ave, which is owned by the same person – so, theoretically, he could’ve built a house on a 50-foot lot without any issues. Voogd decided to abstain from the Circle Avenue vote.
According to the memo by director of health and safety Steve Glinke, the issue stems from a decision made sometime in 2010 to change the zoning requirements for R-1 residential zoning areas, which resulted in the current limits. While the buildings that are already there are grandfathered in, any new houses must follow the current regulations.
Glinke wrote that as part of the long-discussed top-to-bottom village zoning code rewrite, he would recommend reducing the minimum lot width down to 25 feet. He noted that homes built on 25-foot-wide lot have been increasing in value over the past 15 years, and that such lots “remain a dominant housing feature in Forest Park and in many ways define single-family housing in Forest Park.”
According to the Cook County records, the Wilcox home ended up in foreclosure after its previous owner, Kenneth Wick, died. It ended up in the Cook County Treasurer’s scavenger tax sale. Gheorghe “George” Rosca, of northwest suburban Niles, bought it in late April.
The Circle Avenue property has been vacant since the house burned down in 2005. Patrick Buckley, of Deerfield Beach, Fl., purchased the 836-8 Circle Avenue lots in 2023.
In their applications, Rosca and Buckley both argued that the single-family homes they are building wouldn’t be out of character with the neighboring houses. If the variances weren’t retroactively granted, the houses would’ve had to be torn down – which, they argued, would only hurt Forest Park.
Voogd, who attended the Nov. 20 planning and zoning meeting, said that while she agreed that it would be in the best interest of the village to approve both homes, she was worried that issues like that might come up in the future.
“I do hope that, going forward, we’ll make a better effort to provide consistent oversight,” she said. “We need to be clear and fair in our enforcement, not just in building codes but all of our ordinances.”
Voogd added that the she hoped that the update to the zoning code would include examining how the village handles applications and fixing any issues that may be discovered.
Commissioner Maria Maxham, who also attended the meeting, said that she was satisfied that the steps the buildings department already took to increase oversight were enough to avoid similar mistakes.
“It sounds to me, like it isn’t just hope that it’s going to change, but that changes are going to be put in place, and I believe, and not just hope, that mistakes like this won’t happen again,” she said. “The best thing to do is approve it retroactively and more forward and do better.”
Ryan Nero, who, as the commissioner of public health and safety has oversight over Glinke’s department, was more forceful, noting that the changes were announced at the Nov. 20 meeting.
“Controls were put in place, publicly communicated, those controls, and we want to drag department into the street and throw rocks at them! It’s wrong! It’s wrong!” he said, adding, “to err is human. Taking ownership of that – that’s leadership.”