New Restaurant in West Town may
face zoning changes
By Ivette Sandoval
The owners of the popular Smart Bar are planning to open a new business in the West Town neighborhood, the Spitfire Grill Restaurant, which will be located at 859 N. Damen Ave.
There may be a glitch, though. Recently, a bar at 1056 N. Damen Ave. saw the City downzoned its location to purely residential. Now, West Town Chamber of Commerce members feel they need to step in because of talk that the 859 N. Damen location may be downzoned as well.
Downzoning is a major problem, said Kara Hughes Salgado, executive director of the chamber. "It decreases the value of a building when it goes from commercial to residential," Salgado explained. "Damen is a mixed-use corridor. There’s a lot of residential in that corridor already and to lose the small amount of commerce would have a negative impact, so we want to preserve the small amount of commerce that exists.”
The chamber and the Cook County Assessor’s office have studied the strip of Damen between North and Grand Avenues, which holds 217 properties. Of these, 2.76% are exempt from zoning requirements, 1.84% are vacant, 85.25% are residential, 4.15% are mixed use, and 5.99% are commercial. The chamber finds this to be a typical mix on Damen and argues there is little need for more downzoning.
The chamber is working with the City on an additional study of the situation. According to Salgado, “we want to gather some demographic data. We actually want to do the study between Fullerton and Grand and create a plan.” Chamber members want to make sure they have the data to back up their argument against downzoning.
They already have sent a letter to 32nd Ward Alderman Ted Matlak, however, outlining the chamber's support for the Spitfire Grill Restaurant. The Alderman did not attend the last community meeting held on the subject, and the chamber has not received any feedback from him yet.
The restaurant owners are not requesting any changes to the current zoning. They even are willing to operate the restaurant with a limited liquor license or a bring-your-own (BYOB) policy if that will prevent downzoning.
“We all just want to make sure we come up with a plan to send to the Alderman and to the Department of Planning to show that we need to preserve what is commercial,” said Salgado.
Matlak was not available for comment.
The West Town Chamber holds community meetings the third Thursday of every month and every second Wednesday of the months they hold their board meetings. For more information, contact the West Town Chamber at (312) 850-9390.
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