'Never, Ever, Ever': Hinsdale Nixes Couple's Zoning Request

HINSDALE, IL – Longtime Hinsdale residents Alan and Joan Berger have demolished their old house at 5515 S. Elm St.

In 1971, they bought two lots on Elm Street in what was then unincorporated DuPage County. The house was on the north lot.

"The land was cleared in anticipation each lot would have a single-family home built on it," Alan Berger told the Hinsdale Village Board on Tuesday.

But that's not going to happen.

On Tuesday, the Village Board rejected the request to subdivide the land, saying approval would break precedent.

Dividing the land would have resulted in each lot having 60 feet of frontage on the street. The zoning code, however, requires 70 feet.

That code was enacted in the 1980s. Some Hinsdale neighborhoods are full of houses that were grandfathered in because they don't meet the lot frontage or square footage requirements.

The idea was to make Hinsdale less dense. It has resulted in a town of big houses, with the village's median home value nearing $1 million.

During Tuesday's meeting, the Bergers' lawyer, Matthew Klein, said all the other lots on their block have 60-feet frontage. The Bergers' proposal would be consistent, which Klein said was the goal of zoning.

But Village President Tom Cauley said the village has "never, ever, ever" approved such a request.

"We would be changing our rule if we allowed it here, and I guarantee you that we will see at least 17 of these in the next year if we do," Cauley said.

"I'd be shocked if you saw more than one or two at most," Klein said.

In early 2022, the village's zoning board voted 6-1 for the Bergers' request. The proposal went before the Village board the next month, with Cauley requesting Klein to compare his case with two others.

At the time, the Village Board had recently denied a request to subdivide land in the 600 block of Mills Street.

Cauley said Tuesday the Mills Street case was nearly identical to the Bergers'.

Klein disagreed. He said the Mills Street case also involved exceptions to the village code on square footage and how far back the property goes.

Trustee Luke Stifflear asked Klein why the village should not follow its longtime rule.

Klein said Hinsdale's zoning consultants in the 1980s largely relied on regulations in suburban Northbrook, where development occurred in a much larger space.

In response to the changes, residents in parts of Hinsdale were "very distraught," fearing they would not be able to rebuild their homes, Klein said.

But the village made sure residents would still have that ability.

None of the Bergers' neighbors objected to their proposal.

"We ask for no special privilege in this matter, only fairness and equitable treatment," Alan Berger said.

The Village Board's vote against the request was unanimous.