1st Ward Report

ALD. MORENO “BAN THE BAG” ORDINANCE AND PRESS CONFERENCE

 

Chicago, IL – 1^st Ward Alderman, Proco Joe Moreno, is introducing an ordinance on November 2, which will ban the use of plastic bags in stores that are over 5,000 square feet. Aldermen Fioretti (2), Solis (25), Cappleman (46) and Pawar (47) are co-sponsors of this ordinance.

 

The ordinance will ban plastic bags and mandate that stores provide customers with reusable bags. 3 billion plastic bags are used annually in Chicago. Plastic bag bans are rare in the United States.

 

There are powerful organizations who have already told Moreno he can’t pass this ban. “I like a good fight,” Moreno said in response. “These bags cost taxpayers millions of dollars every year. They clog our sewers and litter our streets, while the giant corporations who use them make record profits.”

 

Moreno is working with the Surfrider Foundation, which has over 50,000 members nationwide, on this legislation. “Rise Above Plastics” is its primary national campaign, focused on the dramatic reduction in use of single-use plastics.

 

Alderman Moreno is holding a 9 a.m. press conference, at City Hall’s 2^nd Floor, where he’ll be taking media questions about his “Ban the Bag” Ordinance before council on Wednesday November 2.

 

###

My Work - Live Ordinance will be heard in the Zoning Committee tomorrow, in Council Chambers, at 10 a.m. All committee hearings are open to the public.

In the interest of transparency and because I’m proud of this legislation, you can find a full copy of the Ordinance below. I hope the committee members will pass this commonsense ordinance tomorrow.

ORDINANCE

 

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO:

 

            SECTION 1.  The table in Section 17-13-0207 of the Chicago Zoning Ordinance, Title 17 of the Municipal Code of Chicago (“Zoning Ordinance”), is hereby amended by adding the language underscored, as follows:

 

17-3-0207 Use Table and Standards.

USE GROUP

Zoning Districts

Use Standard

Parking Standard

Use Category

B1

B2

B3

C1

C2

C3

 

Specific Use Type

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

P = permitted by right  S = special use approval required  PD = planned development approval required  - = Not allowed

(Omitted text is unaffected by this ordinance)

PP. Retail Sales, General

P

P

P

P

P

P

 

§17-10-0207-M

1.

Business work-live unit located on the ground floor

P

P

S

S

S

-

§17-9-0119

§17-10-0207-M

(Omitted text is unaffected by this ordinance.)

 

SECTION 2.  Section 17-17-0100 of the Zoning Ordinance is hereby amended by adding a new subsection 17-17-0232.5, as follows:

 

17-17-0232.5 Business work-live unit. A space within a building (a) that combines a commercial activity with a living space for the owner of the commercial business, or the owner’s employee, and that person’s household, (b) where the resident owner or employee of the business is responsible for the commercial activity performed; (c) where the commercial activity takes place subject to a valid business license associated with the premises; and (d) where the residential use of the space is secondary or accessory to the primary use as a place of work.   

 

SECTION 3.  Section 17-9-0100 of the Zoning Ordinance is hereby amended by adding a new subsection 17-9-0119, as follows:

 

17-9-0119  Business work-live units.

 

17-9-0119-A  Operating Requirements.

 

1.                  Occupancy. Each business work-live unit shall be occupied and used only by the operator of the retail sales business, and that person’s household.

 

2.                  Business License Required.  At least one resident in each business work-live unit shall maintain a valid license for a business on the premises.

 

3.                  Sale or Rental of Portions of Unit. No portion of a business work-live unit may be separately rented or sold as a work space for any person not living in the unit, or as a residential space for any person not working in the unit.

 

17-9-0119-B  Development Standards.  Buildings withbusiness work-live units shall comply with the following standards:

 

1.                  The minimum total gross square footage of a business work-live unit shall be six hundred (600) square feet. 

 

2.                  The work area in each business work-live unit shall occupy at least fifty percent (50%) of the total square footage of the unit.

 

3.                  The living space within the business work-live unit shall include cooking space, sanitary facilities and sleeping space in compliance with all applicable provisions of the Municipal Code and any other applicable health, safety, building and fire codes, ordinances, laws, rules and regulations.  All floor area other than that reserved for living space shall be designed or equipped exclusively or principally to accommodate commercial uses, and shall be regularly used for work activities and display space by one or more occupants of the unit.

 

4.                  Each business work-live unit fronting a public street, and located at street level, shall have a pedestrian-oriented frontage that publicly displays the interior of the nonresidential areas of the building. 

 

5.                  The living space within the business work-live unit shall be contiguous with and an integral part of the working space, with direct access between the two areas, and not as a separate stand-alone dwelling unit; provided, however, mezzanines and lofts may be used as living space, and living and working space may be separated by corridors, hallways, interior courtyards or similar private space.  The living space within the business work-live unit shall not have a separate street address from the working space.  Where more than one business work-live unit is proposed within a single building, each business work-live unit shall be separated from other business work-live units and other uses in the building.  Access to each business work-live unit shall be clearly identified to provide for emergency services.

 

6.                  Storage of flammable liquids and hazardous materials beyond that normally associated with a residential use shall require approval from the Fire Department.

 

17-9-0119-C  Certificate of Occupancy.  No business work-live unit shall be occupied nor shall the use of a business work-live unit, including the work use, be changed without issuance of a certificate of occupancy.  A certificate of occupancy shall be issued only if the Commissioner of Buildings determines that the proposed work activities and living space meet all applicable provisions of the Municipal Code and any other applicable health, safety, building and fire codes, ordinances, laws, rules and regulations.  

 

SECTION 4.  Section 17-13-0902-B of the Zoning Ordinance is hereby amended by adding a new subsection 17-13-0902-B-3, as follows:

 

3.         Business work-live units.  In addition to any other general information required to be submitted with a special use application, the following specific information must accompany any special use application for a business work-live unit:

 

(a)               Description of the nature of the work activities to be performed in the business work-live unit.

 

(b)               Floor plan that identifies those areas to be used as living space and those areas to be used as work space.

 

SECTION 5.  Section 17-13-0905 of the Zoning Ordinance is hereby amended by adding a new subsection 17-13-0905-E, as follows:

 

17-13-0905-E  Business work-live units. No special use application for a business work-live unit may be approved unless the Zoning Board of Appeals finds that the special use complies with all of the following criteria:

 

1.                  Approval Criteria.

 

(a)               The proposed use of each business work-live unit is a bona fide commercial activity.

 

(b)               The establishment of business work-live units will not impair the retention or creation of commercial uses in the neighborhood or district in which the use is located.

 

(c)               Each business work-live unit has been designed to ensure that it will function predominantly as work space with incidental residential accommodations that meet basic habitability requirements in compliance with all applicable provisions of the Municipal Code and any other applicable health, safety, building and fire codes, ordinances, laws, rules and regulations.

 

(d)               The residents of the business work-live unit will not be subject to unreasonable noise, odors, vibration or other potentially harmful environmental conditions.

 

SECTION 6.  To the extent that any ordinance, resolution, rule, order or provision of the Municipal Code, or any portion thereof, is in conflict with any provision of this ordinance, the provisions of this ordinance control.  If any section, paragraph or provision of this ordinance shall be held invalid by any court, that invalidity shall not affect the remaining provisions of this ordinance.

 

SECTION 7.  This ordinance shall be in full force and effect 180 days after its passage and publication.

 

______________________________

                                                                                                Proco “Joe” Moreno

                                                                                    Alderman, 1^st Ward

Today, I introduced a Resolution that called for a joint Committee on Finance and Committee on Human Relations hearing to determine what further steps can be taken to urge Arizona legislators to repeal SB 1070. The goal of the hearings is to determine what the City of Chicago can do to urge Arizona legislators to repeal the bill.

Arizona SB 1070 creates a troubling legal precedent, which places a burden on the Arizona police to discriminate on the basis of ethnicity. Arizona SB 1070 is a challenge to the civil liberties of all residents of, and visitors to, Arizona.

Arizona SB 1070 makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally and requires police officers to question those whom they suspect to be illegal immigrants. I am the grandson of Mexican Immigrants and I believe America’s diversity has been and will continue to be our greatest strength.

I believe that Arizona SB 1070 is an affront to long-held legal precedents and principles and its passage is very troubling. I disagree with those who do not think it concerns them. This is not a Latino or ethnic issue; it’s a legal and human rights issue. Arizona SB 1070 is bad legislation, which should concern all people who value civil liberties; plain and simple.

The Resolution was co-sponsored by all members of the Latino Caucus and signed by thrity Alderman overall.

Here is the text of the Resolution:

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The State of Arizona enacted SB 1070, which was signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer on the 23rd day of April, 2010; and

WHEREAS, Arizona SB 1070 makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally; and 

WHEREAS, Arizona SB 1070 requires police officers to question those they suspect are illegal immigrants; and 

WHEREAS, Arizona SB 1070 will unfairly target members of the Latino community in Arizona, which will cause undue anxiety to millions of people; and  
 
WHEREAS, Arizona SB 1070 removes the American legal virtue that assumes innocence, placing a burden on Arizona police officers to discriminate on the basis of ethnicity; and

WHEREAS, The United States of America was founded and has thrived on legal principals contradictory to Arizona SB 1070; and

WHEREAS, The United States of America is a nation comprised of immigrants, with a history of eventually welcoming immigrants as assets to the country; and

WHEREAS, Arizona SB 1070 is a challenge to the cherished civil liberties of all citizens residing in and traveling to the state of Arizona; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and Members of the Chicago City Council, assembled here this12th day of May, 2010, do hereby denounce the actions of the Arizona Legislature in passing Arizona SB 1070; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and Members of the Chicago City Council, assembled here this this12th day of May, 2010, do hereby request that the City Council’s Committee on Finance and Committee on Human Relations conduct one or more joint hearings to examine the steps needed for the city government to investigate what further actions can be taken to urge Arizona legislators to repeal this discriminatory, un-American legislation.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, the President and Minority Leader of the Arizona Senate and the Speaker and Minority Leader of the Arizona House of Representatives.