Developers Could Skirt Approval Process

15 June 2009 - 7:00am

DuPage County may let developers bypass the County Board for project approval if they develop low- to moderate-income housing projects.

In order to enhance diversity in DuPage County, a County Board member is making an initiative to make housing affordable to low-to-moderate income earners. This would be giving developers an "entitlement" to bypass the County Board for approval if they develop the desired types of housing.

""The price of land in DuPage County has become so high," Gilgis said. "A young professional can't afford a $450,000 house."

The developer would still be required to meet building, zoning and health and maintenance codes.

The initiative was spurred by what Gilgis saw as a gap between luxury homes and moderate-priced housing in the county. Under the reworked ordinance, the average house would be under $280,000."

Source: Chicago Tribune, June 12, 2009
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Short of erasing existing political and jurisdictional boundaries, citizens and officials need to develop the capacity to work across boundaries according to the "problem-sheds" of the land and water issues we face in the 21st century.