EDISON PARK — Plans are on hold for a proposed 44-unit apartment complex and 156-space garage proposed to be built in the heart of Edison Park that created a firestorm of controversy, Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st) said.
Details of the proposal had been expected to be unveiled at the regular meeting of the 41st Ward Zoning Advisory Committee scheduled for Wednesday, but Napolitano told residents in an email the session had been canceled.
"We are hopeful that [this] developer will come back to present their revised plans," Napolitano said.
The alderman said his office had received no response from Troy Realty President Hubert Cioromski, who had been scheduled to present the development to the committee in June before Napolitano and 41st Ward Democratic Committeeman Tim Heneghan clashed over the proposal.
Cioromski is out of town this week, a Troy Realty representative told DNAinfo Chicago.
The zoning committee is expected to meet next in September. It makes recommendations to Napolitano on whether projects should be granted special permission by city officials.
More than 500 people attended the June meeting of the zoning committee to hear details about the proposal. But the developer told Napolitano that its representatives would not appear at the meeting as the furor about the proposed development grew online.
The alderman has said he urged the firm to consider building condominiums, not apartments, in an attempt to win the community's support.
Napolitano said Heneghan was a "liar" who "maliciously" tried to scare 41st Ward residents by making it seem like low-income apartments would be built in the heart of Edison Park in an attempt to boost his political prospects in the next aldermanic election.
But Heneghan said his intent was to provide information to residents on a topic of great public interest.
Because the development requires a zoning change, four of the apartments would be set aside for low-income residents, as required by the city's affordable housing ordinance. The affordable apartments would be rented for about 60 percent of the area's median rent, according to the law.
Heneghan is widely expected to challenge Napolitano in the 2019 aldermanic election.
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