17-8-0100 Purpose.

   The planned development regulations of this chapter are intended to:

   17-8-0101 ensure adequate public review of major development proposals;

   17-8-0102 encourage unified planning and development;

   17-8-0103 promote economically beneficial development patterns that are compatible with the character of existing neighborhoods;

   17-8-0104 ensure a level of amenities appropriate to the nature and scale of the project;

   17-8-0105 allow flexibility in application of selected use, bulk, and development standards in order to promote excellence and creativity in building design and high-quality urban design; and

   17-8-0106 encourage protection and conservation of natural resources.

(Added Coun. J. 5-26-04, p. 25275; Amend Coun. J. 5-18-16, p. 24993, § 9)

17-8-0200 Number of buildings and uses.

   Planned developments may include one or more principal buildings and one or more principal uses.

(Added Coun. J. 5-26-04, p. 25275)

17-8-0300 Number of lots.

   Planned developments may consist of one or more lots to be developed as a unit, whether simultaneously or phased within a period of time commensurate with the character of the proposal.

(Added Coun. J. 5-26-04, p. 25275)

17-8-0400 Ownership, control and designated control.

   All planned development applications must be at the time of filing be under single ownership, or control or single designated control. Provided, however, that after the adoption of an ordinance wherein the property is divided into specifically delineated subareas or subparcels, each having its own bulk and density standards, or similar subarea specific or subparcel specific development controls or requirements, the owners of or designated controlling party for each subarea may seek amendments, changes, or modifications for that subarea without the consent of the owners or designated controlling party of the other subareas. Single designated control for the purpose of this paragraph shall mean the party who is authorized by the applicant, its successors and assigns or any property owners association which is formed to succeed the applicant for the purposes of seeking approval of a Planned Development amendment, change or modification . This Section 17-8-0400 is not intended to interfere with, abrogate or annul any zoning rights agreement, deed restriction, or other written agreement between owners or designated controlling parties of subareas, or any provision in a Planned Development where the issue of subarea control is expressly addressed. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no instance shall the owner or designated controlling party of a subarea be permitted to unilaterally seek an amendment, change or modification that would reduce any bulk, density, parking or similar development requirement generally available or applicable to all subareas, such as any unused bulk or density rights, or which would materially adversely reduce another subarea owner's right of access, or which would materially adversely reduce open space, walkways, or similar design requirements applicable to one or more subareas, or which would render another subarea a non- conforming use.

(Added Coun. J. 5-26-04, p. 25275; Amend Coun. J. 1-11-06, p. 68321, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 4-15-15, p. 106130, § 15)

17-8-0500 Mandatory planned development thresholds.

   Planned development review and approval, in accordance with the procedures of Sec. 17-13-0600, is required for all of the following.

   17-8-0501 Air Rights. Planned development review and approval is required for the development of air rights above land used or proposed to be used for railroad, expressway, streets, or other public ways, or land otherwise devoted to public purposes.

   17-8-0502 Airports and Heliports. Planned development review and approval is required for the development of land for airports and land or air rights to be used for heliports, helistops or vertiports. Heliports, helistops or vertiports must meet the standards of Section 17-8-0913.

   17-8-0503 Non-Accessory Parking in the “D” Zoning Districts.

      17-8-0503-A Planned development review and approval is required for the creation, establishment or erection of all non-accessory parking facilities in the Central Area Parking District and any additions to or expansions of existing non-accessory parking facilities in the Central Area Parking District. (See also Sec. 17-4-0800)

      17-8-0503-B When a new or expanded non-accessory parking facility is proposed in the Central Area Parking District, the zoning administrator must provide written notice to the commissioner of business affairs and consumer protection and the corporation counsel for review and comment within 30 days of receipt of such proposal or application. Such notice shall include the address of the proposed non-accessory parking facility and the number of proposed parking spaces. The commissioner of business affairs and consumer protection and the corporation counsel, or their designees, must provide written acknowledgment of receipt of such notice and comments, if any, for inclusion in the record no more than 30 days following receipt of such notice, but in no event less than 10 days prior to the Chicago Plan Commission's hearing on the proposal or application. No zoning approval for any new or expanded non-accessory parking facility in the Central Area Parking District, and no license for any such new or expanded facility, shall be valid unless such notice was delivered and acknowledgment received.

      17-8-0503-C Planned development review and approval is required for the creation, establishment or erection of non-accessory parking facilities in “D” districts located outside the boundaries of the Central Area Parking District if such non-accessory parking facility contains 250 parking spaces or more. (See also Sec. 17-4-0800)

   17-8-0504 Hospitals, Colleges, Universities and Campus-Style Institutional Uses. Planned development review and approval is required for development of land to be used for hospitals, colleges, universities and similar campus-style institutional uses on sites with a net site area of 2 acres or more.

   17-8-0505 Religious Assembly, Community Centers and Similar Assembly Uses. Planned development review and approval is required for development of land to be used for religious assembly, community centers and similar public assembly uses on sites with a net site area of 2 acres or more.

   17-8-0506 Schools, Safety Services and Other Government Buildings. Planned development review and approval is required for development of land to be used for schools, safety services and other government buildings on sites with a net site area of 2 acres or more.

   17-8-0507 Power Plants, Water Plants and Wastewater Plants. Planned development review and approval is required for development of land for any power generation plant, water treatment or wastewater treatment plant.

   17-8-0508 Entertainment and Spectator Sports. Planned development review and approval is required for development of any entertainment and spectator sport use with a seating capacity of 1,000 or more persons.

   17-8-0509 Development Along Waterways.

      17-8-0509-A Planned development review and approval is required for the development of land for any building, structure, or parking area, when any portion of the land is located within 100 feet of any waterway, provided that the repair or rehabilitation of any portion of an existing building, structure or parking area is exempt from this requirement. Additionally, outside the area bounded by Chicago Avenue, Lake Michigan, Cermak Road and Halsted Street, the following are exempt from this mandatory PD threshold:

         1.   residential structures containing 3 or fewer dwelling units and structures that are accessory or additions thereto; and

         2.   other buildings, structures or parking areas that are accessory or an addition to an existing building, structure or use and are either 500 square feet or less in enclosed floor area or are set back a minimum of 30 feet from the top of the bank.

      17-8-0509-B The waterways subject to this provision include: Chicago River Main Branch, Chicago River North Branch and North Branch Canal, Chicago River South Branch and South Fork of the South Branch, North Shore Channel, Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, Calumet River and Lake Calumet, Little Calumet River, Grand Calumet River, Wolf Lake, and Des Plaines River.

   17-8-0510 Large Commercial Developments.

      17-8-0510-A Planned development review and approval is required in B and C zoning districts for any building to be occupied by any retail sales-related use with a gross floor area of 75,000 square feet or more. For purposes of this paragraph, “retail sales- related uses” include general retail sales; food and beverage retail sales; and other uses that are primarily involved in the sales of goods to the general public.

      17-8-0510-B Planned development review and approval is also required in B and C zoning districts for any commercial development with a net site area of 4 acres or more. For purposes of this paragraph, “commercial development” includes development intended to accommodate any use classified in the commercial use group.

      17-8-0510-C Planned development review and approval is required, in PMD B sub-districts for any building to be occupied by any non-accessory, retail sales-related use with a gross floor area of 60,000 square feet or more. For purposes of this paragraph, “retail sales-related uses” include general retail sales; food and beverage retail sales; and other uses that are primarily involved in the sales of goods to the general public.

      17-8-0510-D Planned development review and approval is also required PMD B sub-districts for any commercial development with a net site area of 2 acres or more. For purposes of this paragraph, “commercial development” includes development intended to accommodate any use classified in the commercial use group.

      17-8-0510-E Planned development review and approval is required for any casino use and such use may only be established in a DX zoning district.

   17-8-0511 Large Industrial Developments.

      17-8-0511-A Planned development review and approval is required for any industrial development on M-zoned land with a net site area of 5 acres or more if the subject site is located within 100 feet of any residential district. Otherwise, planned development review and approval is required only for industrial development on M-zoned land with a net site area of 10 acres or more.

      17-8-0511-B Planned development review and approval is required for any (a) windrow composting facility, (b) intensive manufacturing, production and industrial service use, (c) Class III, Class IVA, Class IVB and Class V recycling facility, (d) container storage, (e) freight terminal, (f) outdoor storage of raw material as a principal use, (g) waste-related use, or (h) manganese-bearing material operation use on C, M or PMD-zoned land with a net site area of 10 acres or more or if the subject site is located within 660 feet of any R, B, C or POS zoning district.

      17-8-0511-C Planned development review and approval is required for any warehousing, wholesaling, and freight movement use on C or PMD-zoned land with a net site area of 10 acres or more.

   17-8-0512 Tall Buildings. Planned development review and approval is required for any building that meets or exceeds the following height thresholds:

      17-8-0512-A Neighborhood Zoning Districts.

 

Zoning District	Height Threshold (feet)
RM6	110
RM6.5	140
B/C-5	75*/80 (*See Sec. 17-3-0408-A)

 

      17-8-0512-B Downtown Zoning Districts.

Zoning District	Residential Building Height Threshold (feet)	Nonresidential Building Height Threshold (feet)
D dash 3	80	90
D dash 5	130	150
D dash 7	155	180
D dash 10	220	310
DX-12	330	390
DC-12	330	470
DX-16	440	520
DC-16	440	600

 

   17-8-0513 Large Residential Developments. Planned development review and approval is required for any residential development that meets or exceeds the following land area or unit-count thresholds:

      17-8-0513-A Neighborhood Zoning Districts.

Zoning District	Thresholds
	Detached Houses	Town- houses	Multi-Unit or Mixed Housing Types
RS1-RS3	3 acres net site area	NA	NA
RT3.5-RT4	3 acres net site area	40 units	30 units
RM4.5	3 acres net site area	50 units	40 units
RM5	3 acres net site area	60 units	50 units
RM5.5	3 acres net site area	70 units	60 units
RM6	3 acres net site area	80 units	80 units
RM6.5	3 acres net site area	100 units	100 units
B/C-1	3 acres net site area	50 units	30 units
B/C-1.5	3 acres net site area	50 units	30 units
B/C-2	3 acres net site area	60 units	40 units
B/C-3	3 acres net site area	85 units	60 units
B/C-5	3 acres net site area	100 units	100 units

 

      17-8-0513-B Downtown Zoning Districts.

Zoning District	Threshold (Number of Dwelling Units)
D dash 3	90 units
D dash 5	150 units
D dash 7	200 units
D dash 10	300 units
DX-12	350 units
DC-12	350 units
DX-16	400 units
DC-16	350 units

 

      17-8-0513-C Government-Assisted and Elderly Housing Developments. The unit-count thresholds of Sec. 17-8-0513-A and Sec. 17-8-0513-B are increased by 20% for government-assisted and elderly housing developments. An elderly housing development in the RM4.5 district, for example, must be reviewed and approved as a planned development if it contains 48 or more dwelling units.

   17-8-0514 Bonus Floor Area. Planned development review and approval is required for any development using floor area bonuses under Sec. 17-4-1000.

   17-8-0515 Expansions of Existing Development.

      17-8-0515-A If an approved planned development is proposed to be expanded or changed, the regulations of Sec. 17-13-0611 apply.

      17-8-0515-B Proposed expansions of any other existing development that will result in an increase in building height, lot area or number of dwelling units must be reviewed and approved in accordance with the planned development procedures of Sec. 17-13-0600 if the expanded development meets the threshold for a mandatory planned development.

      17-8-0515-C The mandatory PD requirement of the preceding paragraph (Sec. 17-8-0515-B) does not apply in the following cases:

         1.   the Zoning Administrator determines that the proposed expansion will not result in a significant increase in adverse impacts on the surrounding area, in terms of traffic congestion, incompatible building bulk or scale, or other measurable land-use impacts; or

         2.   the development involves only reuse of an existing building and the building's height is not being increased.

(Added Coun. J. 5-26-04, p. 25275; Amend Coun. J. 3-9-05, p. 44381; Amend Coun. J. 3-9-05, p. 44391; Amend Coun. J. 9-13-06, p. 84870, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 4-11-07, p. 103486, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-19-08, p. 47220, Art. VII, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 1-18-12, p. 19185, § 7; Amend Coun. J. 7-24-13, p. 58315, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 9-11-13, p. 60173, § 6; Amend Coun. J. 11-5-14, p. 96205, § 4; Amend Coun. J. 3-18-15, p. 105476, § 7; Amend Coun. J. 4-15-15, p. 106130, § 16; Amend Coun. J. 9-24-15, p. 7499, § 7; Amend Coun. J. 5-18-16, p. 24993, § 10; Amend Coun. J. 3-24-21, p. 29065, § 7; Amend Coun. J. 5-25-22, p. 48413, § 9)

17-8-0600 Elective planned development thresholds.

   Applicants for developments that do not meet the minimum criteria for a mandatory planned development may nonetheless elect to follow the planned development review and approval procedures if the proposed development is to be located on a site with a minimum site area of 12,500 square feet in any D district, or 21,875 square feet in any other district and meets at least one of the following criteria:

      17-8-0600-A is to include at least 50% of the number of dwelling units that triggers a mandatory PD (In an RT4 district, for example, a townhouse development containing at least 20 dwelling units would be eligible to follow the elective planned development review and approval procedures);

      17-8-0600-B is to include at least 50% of the gross floor area that triggers a mandatory PD. In a B or C zoning district, for example, a commercial use containing at least 37,500 square feet of gross floor area would be eligible to follow the elective planned development review and approval procedures.

      17-8-0600-C is to include a building that is at least 50% of the height of a building that triggers a mandatory PD. In a D dash 5 district, for example, a residential building of at least 65 feet in height or a nonresidential building of at least 75 feet in height would be eligible to follow the elective planned development review and approval procedures.

   17-8-0601 In any D district, an application to substantially rehabilitate and preserve an individual building which has been either 1) designated by ordinance as a “Chicago Landmark”, and in the case of a landmark district, a building for which the Commission on Chicago Landmarks has made a formal determination that said building is a contributing building to the district, or 2) has been color-coded red or orange in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey, may elect to follow the planned development review and approval procedures regardless of site area or other qualifying criteria.

(Added Coun. J. 5-26-04, p. 25275; Amend Coun. J. 3-9-05, p. 44391; Amend Coun. J. 12-13-06, p. 95360, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 9-9-09, p. 71111, § 1)

17-8-0700 Measurement of planned development thresholds.

   In interpreting the mandatory planned development criteria of Sec. 17-8-0500 the following measurement rules apply:

   17-8-0701 Measurements of acreage apply to all land that is contiguous or would be contiguous except for separation by a public way or private access drive.

   17-8-0702 Measurement of the 100-foot distance from waterways is to be made from the high water mark boundary of the waterway along an axis generally perpendicular to the waterway. Land occupied by public roads, streets, alleys and other public property must be included when computing the 100-foot distance.

(Added Coun. J. 5-26-04, p. 25275; Amend Coun. J. 3-9-05, p. 44391)