Got a meeting with the Alderman....How can I convince him to approve my wash?

[bigdaddyvoges]

All,

My brother-in-law and I have a 10am meeting Friday with the Alderman here in Chicago to see if we can get him on our side to rezone the property. His "policy" is that he doesn't spot zone property, but would prefer to rezone an entire block. This doesn't make much sense because the only ones who could use a commercial zoning would be us as there are 2 insurance agents and a dentist on the block who would never utilize or want this type of zoning.

We are going to go into this meeting and act very cordial and tell him how we would hire locals from the area, control traffic, give a facelift to this property etc...

This could possibly get rezoned without his help but we would need an attorney to fight for us and "light a flame" under board members to push through what we want.

Any other ideas I can show this guy to try and sway him on our side???

Thanks.

Bob

 

[Earl Weiss]

All,

My brother-in-law and I have a 10am meeting Friday with the Alderman here in Chicago to see if we can get him on our side to rezone the property. His "policy" is that he doesn't spot zone property, but would prefer to rezone an entire block. This doesn't make much sense because the only ones who could use a commercial zoning would be us as there are 2 insurance agents and a dentist on the block who would never utilize or want this type of zoning.

We are going to go into this meeting and act very cordial and tell him how we would hire locals from the area, control traffic, give a facelift to this property etc...

This could possibly get rezoned without his help but we would need an attorney to fight for us and "light a flame" under board members to push through what we want.

Any other ideas I can show this guy to try and sway him on our side???

Thanks.

Bob

FWIW, Unless your name is Richard Daley or Ed Burk, you are not getting anything rezoned in Chicago if the Alderman does not want it. Perhaps instead of rezoning you could try for a special use permit. If you want to convince the alderman I suggest you have some local community and or Chamber reps with you.

 

[rph9168]

Or make a large contribution to the local Democratic Party and his re-election committee.

 

[bigdaddyvoges]

FWIW, Unless your name is Richard Daley or Ed Burk, you are not getting anything rezoned in Chicago if the Alderman does not want it. Perhaps instead of rezoning you could try for a special use permit. If you want to convince the alderman I suggest you have some local community and or Chamber reps with you.

Earl, We talked to the Chamber (3 different board members) and they are all on our side but when they approached the alderman's office, they got the same response we have gotten thus far. Where can I find some info on the special use permit?

Also, we have stated that we wouldn't mind attending fundraisers for the alderman in the future and giving him and his staff discounts on future washes.

Another problem I have is if he doesn't want to rezone this, the alderman is going to lose another business in his ward and who knows how long it would take to sell the building. I think it would just be another eyesore. We plan on giving the entire building a facelift which can't hurt the community.....

 

[robert roman]

Since you have interested third parties who, by your description, would not want the property rezoned, I would begin by hiring an attorney to research the history of rezoning in the area. The past will usually give some indication of the likelihood of success. If approvals are 2:10 or less, the benefit/cost would need to be there to justify the steep uphill climb you will face.

 

[Earl Weiss]

1. For special use , you would need a zoning attorney. But only pursue this if the alderman thinks it's OK. It's just a way to avoid the "Spot Zoning" issue.
2. Alderman are more swayed by constituents than businesses who don't vote.

 

[Louise]

Can you take in a rendering of the property after its' face lift???

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Why not send a letter to Obama asking for some help.
He probably would love to set up a meeting between each party and try to work out some agreement.

 

[JK Xpress]

Chicago huh?!? 3 words for you; CASH IS KING.

 

[bigdaddyvoges]

Lawyer here we come....Alderman wanted nothing to do with us.....

 

[Earl Weiss]

Lawyer here we come....Alderman wanted nothing to do with us.....

Unless you can show that in similar situations rezoning has been granted save your money.

You are not legaly entitled to a zoning change. Zoning regs are there to be adhered to, not to be changed anytime someone wants a change.

It may not be "Right" it may not be "Fair" but there is no where that we are guaranteed laws that are right or fair. Kelo vs Connetticut was the infamous eminent Domain case where the Supreme court said exactly that.

Unless it's unlawful there is no basis for relief in the courts.

 

[pitzerwm]

Save your money and take it to another town. Let the cities degenerate into another ghetto .

 

[bigdaddyvoges]

Save your money and take it to another town. Let the cities degenerate into another ghetto .

That's what I am thinking, but we are getting the building for "free"

 

[bigdaddyvoges]

Unless you can show that in similar situations rezoning has been granted save your money.

You are not legaly entitled to a zoning change. Zoning regs are there to be adhered to, not to be changed anytime someone wants a change.

It may not be "Right" it may not be "Fair" but there is no where that we are guaranteed laws that are right or fair. Kelo vs Connetticut was the infamous eminent Domain case where the Supreme court said exactly that.

Unless it's unlawful there is no basis for relief in the courts.

There has been precedents of spot zoning in the area, so we shall see....

 

[pitzerwm]

I've gotten free trips to Hawaii a couple of times and believe me they were anything but free.

 

[bigdaddyvoges]

I've gotten free trips to Hawaii a couple of times and believe me they were anything but free.

HAHAHAHAHA, well our father-in-law owns the building so paying rent or leasing isn't an expense we have to deal with.

 

[pitzerwm]

By the time you spend thousands on lawyers and end up not getting anywhere because you won't pay the bribes, you'll wish that you had thought of another idea.

I will say that I have made a lot of money doing things that were really a pain in the butt. Not much competition, when the poop gets deep.

Just getting too old to fight city hall.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Big Daddy. If you know any of my history, you will no there is no love lost between me and certain powers that be.

I would like nothing better than to see you "Stick it to the man".

But, I think you are in for a world of trouble and basicaly spitting in the wind. Few people can truly afford to fight this stuff "On Principle". Then, even if you win the battle, you may find parades of inspectors just happening to visit you on a regular basis.

 

[JK Xpress]

Since you will not have any rent expense, start spending some money on a lawyer and see if he can resolve this for you.

Then can come back and tell us how this all played out.