Home / The Chicago Lakefront: Protected, Yet Precarious / The Chicago Lakefront Policy Agenda
Today, the city is considering multi-billion-dollar proposals that will reshape the lakefront. As one of the organizations that advocated for the creation of The Lakefront Plan of Chicago in 1972 and the adoption of the Lake Michigan and Chicago Lakefront Protection Ordinance (LPO) in 1973, Openlands sees an urgent need to put open space preservation and planning at the forefront of today’s conversations about land use along the lake.
Home / The Chicago Lakefront: Protected, Yet Precarious / The Chicago Lakefront Policy Agenda
After a thorough analysis of the legal protections governing the Chicago lakefront, Openlands identified gaps that could lead to intrusive development and concluded that to ensure future preservation, the LPO should be strengthened. As a municipal law that governs Chicago’s entire shoreline, strengthening the LPO is the best way to preserve and enhance lakefront open space in the future. By improving the LPO’s planning requirements, environmental protections, and engagement processes outlined below, the lakefront can continue to be a social and economic powerhouse for the city.
The 1972 Lakefront Plan established a vision and planning strategy for the lakefront from which the LPO was created. However, much has changed since it was written over 50 years ago. While the intent of the plan remains relevant, it no longer reflects current ecological, cultural, and societal needs. Nor does the Lakefront Protection District govern land along the shores equally.
Amend the LPO to require periodic updates to The Lakefront Plan by a commission of experts. Plan updates should ensure foundational lakefront protections while reflecting current science, social needs, and public input. Any update should include a review of the Lakefront Protection District to ensure equitable lakefront governance and encourage new park space development.
Developments within the Lakefront Protection District can currently be authorized without meeting all the protections intended by the policies and purposes of the Lakefront Plan and LPO. Developers respond to the policies and purposes without any specific design standards to meet, leading to subjectivity in the review process.
Establish “Lakefront Protection District Guidelines” that require use and design standards for new developments, such as bird-safe glass, directional lighting, and stormwater infrastructure. These guidelines can direct new development standards, leading to a more objective and purposeful review process and help mitigate threats to lakefront values, such as migratory bird death.
Looking at the original ordinance from 1973, environmental investigation was a required part of the process. Yet today, the LPO does not require the Department of Planning and Development to investigate environmental impact. It gives authority to the Commissioner, who may perform environmental investigations.
Once again require environmental impact studies within the Lakefront Protection District. These studies should assess an applicant’s potential impact on the surrounding environment and include investigations of impacts on wildlife, air and water quality, light pollution, public access, and other relevant factors. These studies should be available to the public prior to hearings.
All new lakefront projects require public hearings but notice requirements to the public are minimal. Details about a new project are required to be posted online only two weeks before a public hearing. Two weeks is not a sufficient review period, nor does it allow for an informed discussion about proposals to take place.
Require 45 days’ notice of public hearings and proposal details to be posted 30 days prior. Require increased notification methods such as signs posted at the location of plans, press announcements, and digital communications. Decisions regarding the public lakefront must require ample time and detail for healthy discussion and debate.
Large developments along the Chicago River must adhere to additional regulations such as minimum setbacks and continuous riverside trails, but no similar protections exist for large developments in the public zone along the lakefront.
Require higher thresholds for large developments to meet within the Lakefront Protection District, including but not limited to the design and use standards, environmental impact studies, and public engagement and transparency outlined above.
If you’re a member of the media and would like to speak with one of our policy or legal experts, please reach out to Claudia Latapí at clatapi@openlands.org.
Openlands gratefully acknowledges the McDougal Family Foundation for their generous support of this report and our work to safeguard Chicago’s lakefront.
Every donation will be matched up to $50,000. That means your gift goes twice as far to protect the natural spaces we cherish close to home.
