New construction along Taylor Street between Ashland Avenue and Carpenter Street, between the east and west campuses of the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), will have large windows on storefronts but no additional driveways into the street, under an amended City ordinance.
The City Council Oct. 14 approved a change to the Municipal Code, designating Taylor between Ashland and Carpenter a Pedestrian Street.
The idea is to make Taylor “more pedestrian friendly,” said Trina Mangrum, chief of staff for Ald. Jason Ervin (28th). “Nothing physically would change.” In addition, new shops must have at least 60% of the facades facing Taylor with clear glass windows, and primary entrances must face Taylor.
Vehicle lots must be accessible from an alley and not be visible from the street. The City will allow no drive-through facilities, gas stations, or car washes.
At a Zoning Committee meeting Oct. 12, Ervin said he had been working with the Chicago Housing Authority and Related Midwest, developers of the Roosevelt Square residential and commercial site, on the zoning change; none were available for comment. Those attending the committee meeting had no further comment, and the measure passed unmentioned on the City Council floor as part of an omnibus vote.
Mangrum said the City Department of Planning decided “it would be a good idea” and a way to keep Taylor “as it is.”
The half-dozen exiting driveways will remain, Mangrum said. The result will be neither a subtraction nor an addition to parking. The portion of Taylor Street from Morgan Street to Carpenter Street—the rest of the stretch between UIC’s east and west campuses and the portion of the street in the 11th Ward—was not included. In that area, only Tuscany restaurant has a driveway.
Another, previously designated Pedestrian Street in the community is Halsted Street between Washington Boulevard and Van Buren Street.
For more information, contact Ervin’s office at (773) 533-0900 or [email protected].
—Susan S. Stevens