Park Ridge Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting – April 23, 2026

The Park Ridge Zoning Board of Appeals met in the City Hall Council Chambers, 505 Butler Place, on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. The board approved the prior meeting minutes, conducted two public hearings on variance applications, and acted on both cases. No appeals were listed, and no citizens spoke during the non-agenda public comment portion.

Consent Calendar

• The March 19, 2026 draft minutes were approved on a motion by Commissioner Sario, seconded by Commissioner Vlasich. The roll call, as transcribed, was: Taber abstained; Deslin, Surreal, Lasich, Accord, and Shilling voted yes.
• No appeals were on the agenda.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No public comments were received for either variance case, and no members of the audience came forward during the citizen comments portion of the meeting.

Public Hearing – 1633 Vine Avenue, Case VA-26-08

• Staff reported the property is a two-story single-family residence with a detached garage. The applicant requested approval of one major variance and one minor variance to build a 222-square-foot addition to the garage (10 feet by 22.2 feet) for storage of snowblowers, motorcycles, lawn equipment, and children’s items.
• Floor area ratio: The maximum FAR in the R2 district is 0.45. The allowed FAR floor area for this lot is 2,995 square feet. The property was already over the limit at 3,526 square feet; with the proposed addition it would be 3,646 square feet, exceeding the maximum by 651 square feet.
• Open space: The property must provide 40% open space, or 2,662 square feet. It currently has 2,414 square feet and would have 2,532 square feet with the addition, 130 square feet below the requirement.
• The applicants, Zachary Maher and Peter Maher, testified that they inherited the nonconforming conditions, plan to remove 238 square feet of patio/pavers to restore green space, and are replacing an old shed. They cited a former alley that was added to the parcel, moving the garage farther from the rear lot line and removing a 400-square-foot FAR exemption. They said building a fully compliant new garage farther back was not financially feasible.
• Commissioners discussed the storage needs of a growing family, the unique circumstances of the alley vacation, the side-drive open-space impact of having no alley, and the de minimis effect of a roughly 1.8% FAR increase against a 1.7% open-space improvement.

Public Hearing – 1925 West Dempster Street, Case VA-26-07

• The applicant, Advocate Health and Hospitals Corporation, proposed expanding the existing West Parking Garage at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital by one sixth-level bay to add 256 parking spaces, increasing the garage from 797 to 1,053 spaces. A related special use and site plan review were considered by the Planning and Zoning Commission on April 14, 2026.
• Two major variances were requested after the applicant withdrew its request related to light fixture height by redesigning fixtures to be code-compliant.
• Building height: The maximum height in the district is 50 feet; the proposed garage parapets would be 61 feet above the sidewalk along three street frontages, 11 feet over the limit but matching the existing garage height.
• Parking module width: For 60-degree parking, the code requires a 58-foot double-loaded module. The proposal is 54 feet 6 inches, which matches the existing garage and uses wider 9-foot stalls; the applicant’s designer said the national parking geometric standard for 60-degree spaces is typically 54 feet.
• Advocates argued the height variance avoids losing an entire parking level and keeps the expansion visually consistent, while the reduced module width allows the garage to stay within setbacks and avoid non-conforming interior conditions. They argued the variances would not alter the character of the area.
• The board noted the same parking module width request had been handled in 2016 through the Planning and Zoning Commission rather than the ZBA.

Key Outcomes

• Approved the March 19, 2026 meeting minutes.
• Approved the minor variance at 1633 Vine Avenue on a 6–0 roll call vote.
• Recommended approval of the major variance at 1633 Vine Avenue to the City Council on a 5–1 roll call vote; Commissioner Deslin voted no. The variance permits the garage addition despite exceeding the maximum FAR.
• Recommended approval of both major variances at 1925 West Dempster Street to the City Council on a unanimous 6–0 roll call vote. The board added a finding that the hospital’s growth and need for parking support the hardship.
• Noted that the variance application at 1105 Harrison Street, Case VA-26-09, was rescheduled to the May 14, 2026 special ZBA meeting because of a staff error in public noticing documentation. The board also noted the regular May 28, 2026 meeting; the application deadline for that meeting was the next day.