La Grange Fails To Meet Housing Rule: State

LA GRANGE, IL — La Grange is out of compliance with a state law because it has yet to turn in a plan to increase affordable housing, an agency says.

Recently, Village President Mark Kuchler wrote the Illinois Housing Development Authority in response to its repeated requests for a plan. He said 13.3 percent of La Grange's housing stock is considered affordable.

Under state law, any town with less than 10 percent affordable housing must submit a plan to the state. Kuchler said the 2018 Census data shows that the village moved above that threshold.

But authority spokesman Andrew Field said La Grange is not exempt. He said the state doesn't consider the 2018 data in its calculations.

"The legislation calls for a list to be published once every five years — not every year," Field said in an email to Patch. "To grant an exemption to La Grange would be unfair to all the other municipalities whose calculations are based on 2016 data."

He also said La Grange failed to provide the agency with its methodology on coming up with its new number, so the authority has no way to double-check it.

In his letter to the state, Kuchler said the village was committed to offering affordable housing opportunities. He cited the work of BEDS Plus, a local group dedicated to ending homelessness.

In the last few years, the group built the Ogden Avenue Supportive Housing facility in La Grange. It features 20 units for "very low income" residents with a history of chronic homelessness, physical and mental disabilities, and serious health conditions, Kuchler said.

Hinsdale also has yet to submit its latest plan, which was due in June 2015. At the time, Village President Tom Cauley told a publication that the village hadn't turned in a plan because of turnover in the village manager's office.

But Hinsdale has had the same manager since 2013. Village officials could not be reached for comment.

Some towns without plans, including Elmhurst, say the law does not apply to them because they are home rule. Hinsdale and La Grange do not have that status.

Western Springs has turned in a plan.