Proposed Chicago TOD Ordinance: Increase Density, Eliminate Parking Requirements

"The office of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who proposed and worked with City Council to pass a major TOD ordinance in 2013, unveiled a proposal for a reformed TOD ordinance," according to a post by Yonah Freemark for the Metropolitan Planning Council. For the record, the Metropolitan Planning Council "hails this proposed zoning ordinance as an important step forward in growing our city toward its transit system."

"An initial analysis of the ordinance conducted by MPC shows that the change would more than double the area of land benefiting from increased allowed density, compared with the 2013 ordinance, from 13 million sq. ft. of parcels to 31 million sq. ft. (this represents just a small portion of the city’s total developable area)," adds Freemark. The ordinance would also "increase by more than 10 times the area that would benefit from reduced parking requirements, from 86 million sq. ft. or parcels to 957 million."

The post includes a lot more info on the impacts the proposed ordinance could have enacted. For more information about the city's support of the new ordinance, which could be considered in September, see also a press release from the office of Mayor Rahm Emanuel about the proposed ordinance.