"Economically Feasible"

There was sizable and vocal opposition to Wilmette's proposed $12,000 teardown tax at a recent public hearing, exemplified by this resident. Wilmette Life:

"There's a big oversupply of housing on the North Shore," said Bob Dekker, a Wilmette resident and officer in the Chicago Association of Homebuilders. "You add what amounts to a 1 percent tax on top of that, and it only exacerbates" the downward pressure on prices. "The people who suffer from that most are the current homeowners."

(Earlier post Tax Will Hurt Vulnerable.) But proponents of the tax continue to spin Tall Tales:

Landlord Jeff Strange, owner of 91 Wilmette multifamily units -- the bulk of them affordable -- testified July 24 that more affordable units would arrive quicker if Wilmette altered its "exclusionary" zoning code, instead of charging a new fee.

He said 1960s code changes allow "density half of what it was before, so you get much more expensive units, due to the zoning-out of any inexpensive housing."

According to village officials, floor space in the village's R-3 multi-family zoning district is limited to 30 percent of lot size. Floor space is further reduced by a height limit of 36 feet or two and a half stories, whichever is less. Setbacks trim buildable area by 30 feet in the rear, 25 feet in the front, and 12 on the sides.

Strange said parking regulations for multifamily housing discourage affordable units, too. Each unit must have two parking spaces, plus a half-space extra for every bedroom over two. Half the spaces must be covered.

"If you make it economically feasible for (affordable housing), builders will come in," he said.

"Economically Feasible" means just the opposite in the real world to Wilmette taxpayers.

The push by special interest advocates to build taller buildings for themselves can only come about with major, unending subsidies from the rest of us.....and major quality of life sacrifices on our congested streets and in our congested schools.