The Senate Executive Committee held a marathon committee meeting last week to hear testimony on myriad housing bills, including Gov. JB Pritzker’s proposed plan to expand multi-unit housing and cut red tape. 

The Building Up Illinois Developments (BUILD) package includes six different measures that aim to increase housing development in Illinois.

Senate Bill 4060 would amend the Illinois Municipal Code to prevent local zoning boards from prohibiting multi-unit housing on lots larger than 2,500 square feet. Under the measure, lots between 2,500-5,000 square feet would be allowed four units by right; lots between 5,000-7,500 square feet would be allowed six and lots 7,500 square feet and larger would be allowed eight.

The housing types allowed in this “middle division” of housing would include duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, cottage clusters, townhouses, attached courtyard housing, detached courtyard housing and stacked flats.

SB 4060 also prohibits municipalities from imposing restrictions on middle division housing that are more stringent than those required for single-family homes.

“Today, in many communities, it's not allowed or it's very difficult to build smaller, more attainable housing, like duplexes, four flats or accessory dwelling units,” said Olivia Ortega, director of housing solutions for the governor’s office. “BUILD establishes a clear baseline that allows these types of homes while still allowing local governments to shape how development fits within their communities. So, it guarantees how many homes can be built, but not exactly what those buildings look like in form.”

Senate Bill 4061 would prevent municipalities from requiring multiple staircases for smaller buildings that fit a certain criteria, including having six or fewer floors and meeting certain fire safety standards.

Senate Bill 4062 would instruct the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to create a statewide formula structure for impact fees levied by municipalities, which would be required to utilize that formula.

Senate Bill 4063 would require municipalities to complete a plan review within 15 business days of a developer completing an application for a single-unit home and 30 days for a multi-unit project. It also states that if an inspection is not completed within two business days, then a developer may utilize a “qualified third-party inspector.”

Senate Bill 4064 would place limitations on parking requirements for new housing projects. Municipalities would not be allowed to require more than 0.5 parking spaces per multifamily dwelling unit or more than one parking space per single-family home.

The measure also prohibits parking requirements for residential buildings of less than 1,500 square feet, affordable housing projects under the Illinois Affordable Housing Act, assisted living establishments, ground-level nonresidential spaces in mixed-use buildings or buildings changing from nonresidential to residential.

Bill sponsor Sen. Javier Cervantes (D-Berwyn) emphasized that the measure does not prevent developers from including more parking spaces than the municipality's requirements.

Finally, Senate Bill 4071 would legalize accessory -dwelling units (ADUs) — such as attic and basement conversions, coach houses and other types of granny flats — statewide. Under the measure, each municipality would adopt its own ordinance permitting their use “in all zoning districts that permit single-family dwellings without additional requirements.”

Ortega said the BUILD package will be paired with $250 million in new capital funding, including $100 million to support middle division housing development, $50 million for down payment assistance programs for first- time home buyers and $100 million for the state’s Site Readiness Grants.

“This leads to incremental increases in housing supply, helping to relieve pressure, so that rents and home prices can stabilize and become more attainable,” she said. “Importantly, this is not about large or sudden change. It's about enabling small- scale, incremental development. The types of housing enabled through build are designed to fit within existing neighborhoods while making more efficient use of existing infrastructure.”

The package is backed by the Illinois Department on Aging, the McLean County Board, the Metropolitan Planning Council and Illinois REALTORS. It is opposed by several municipalities, the Illinois Municipal League, the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, the Northwest Municipal Conference and Chicago Ald. Ruth Cruz (30).

Emily Bloom-Carlin, director of housing and community development at the Metropolitan Planning Council, said studies conducted by the council have shown that a neighborhood-by-neighborhood approach to zoning “has really failed to produce the homes that families need.”

For example, she cited a study of zoning decisions in Chicago over the past 50 years.

“When neighborhoods were downzoned to ban apartments and other small, multi-unit homes, housing costs rose, affordability declined for working families and neighborhoods grew wider as existing residents were priced out significantly,” she said.

Bloom-Carlin said multifamily housing has also shown to create a positive impact on the local economy, particularly producing more money for local school districts.

She said other states and cities have adopted similar legislation, with a California law legalizing ADUs producing more than 100,000 of the units since 2017 and similar reforms in Austin coinciding with a 16 percent decrease in rents.

Brad Cole, CEO of the Illinois Municipal League, said their main concern with the measure is the preemption of local control, which he said would limit local input on housing projects.

Romeoville Mayor John Noak said the measure does not address the root causes of housing shortages.

“What really is driving the cost of housing and what is preventing many of the projects that are out there today is land cost, it's materials, it's insurance, it's closing costs, it's state mandates,” he said. “In fact, many times, we in our own community have not been able to do projects, even if we offer to negotiate all of these things that we're talking about today, simply because those cost drivers are the main thing that is driving us from having more housing options.”

The committee did not vote on any of the measures. The Illinois Senate will return to Springfield on Tuesday.