Lawsuit Filed!
Edgewater is at Risk.
Stop Blank-Check Upzoning.
Yes to community-led development
Yes to more affordable housing
Yes to our small businesses
Yes to our heritage buildings
Yes to quality of life
Latest News
Jan 14 - Edgewater Residents File Lawsuit Challenging City’s Unprecedented Broadway Upzoning
On Monday January 12, 2026 Edgewater Residents for Responsible Development (ERRD) and 13 Edgewater residents and business owners filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court challenging the City of Chicago’s unprecedented October 16 th upzoning of hundreds of properties in Edgewater’s vital Broadway neighborhood shopping district.
COMPLAINT CLAIMS ILLEGAL UPZONING
The lawsuit alleges the upzoning process, the locations involved, and the lack of study and planning violated City of Chicago ordinances and Illinois law. The Complaint asks the court to invalidate the upzoning and restore the prior zoning classifications. For more details, view the complaint.
BACKGROUND
ERRD has long taken the position that ZONING IS A TOOL, NOT A PLAN. In this case, the City did no study of the Edgewater locations and no planning for the upzoning impacts on and around Broadway.
Further, affected local residents and businesses were cut-out of the proposal development and were subsequently mis-informed about the properties upzoned and also denied effective notice and a sufficient hearing. Learn more.
ERRD COMMENT
“Edgewater’s Broadway is a vital neighborhood shopping district with many historic buildings that houses beloved small businesses and affordable housing. The City’s reckless upzoning targets these buildings for demolition. It is unfortunate that our residents and businesses were forced to file an expensive lawsuit such as this to protect our neighborhood, but we were left with no other option,” said ERRD President Patricia Sharkey. “The sheer scale of this rezoning and the City’s determination to ram it through over the opposition of the affected community left us with no other recourse. When government fails to respect the rule of law and the rights of its citizens, a citizens’ lawsuit such as this becomes the only option.”
Who We Are
Edgewater Residents for Responsible Development is a 501c4 association of residents and small businesses who oppose the City’s proposal for radical upzoning of 2.6 miles of Broadway with no study, planning or input from affected residents and businesses.
Our goals include:
Promoting a community-led master planning process for large vacant parcels, especially in Edgewater's central Broadway business district
Reversing the unlawful blanket up-zoning of Broadway
Reversing alder's 30-year property tax Break for new construction in Edgewater & Uptown
Promoting policies to support small businesses on Broadway
Preserving Broadway’s architectural diversity, heritage buildings, and affordability
Advocating for studies and policies to mitigate the impact on traffic, parking and displacement
👉 LEARN MORE: How the city skipped the process and silenced Edgewater
What You Can Do
👉 DONATE If ERRD is representing your concerns, please donate what you can to help us pay the legal bills.
👉 SIGN UP For our Save Broadway News newsletter
👉 SHOW YOUR SUPPORT - By signing our Win-Win Petition.
👉 VOLUNTEER Do you have comms, website, public relations, media or social media tech skills to donate to our cause? Contact us at savebwy@gmail.com
SMALL BUSINESSES MATCHING GIFT CHALLENGE
Filing a lawsuit is expensive. Recognizing this, several of our Broadway small businesses have generously offered ERRD a $15,000 Matching Gift Challenge. Though they wish to remain anonymous, we thank these hardworking small business owners for their support and leadership.
Help us meet this challenge before the end of January!
Ways to Donate
Zelle ERRD@baliozian.com
Venmo - @ERRD1
Mail a Check (made out to “Edgewater Residents for Responsible Development”) to: ERRD, 6236 N. Lakewood, Chicago, IL 60660
STAY TUNED! UPCOMING COFFEES AND FORUMS
In Jan/Feb we kick off a series of neighborhood Coffees and Forums sponsored by ERRD, Edgewater Block Clubs, Neighborhood Associations, and others. Plan to participate in these fascinating community discussions that will begin with a meeting on the concepts, elements, opportunities, and challenges for development at Edgewater's transit hubs -using the Bryn Mawr-Broadway-Hollywood central Broadway business district as an example. MORE INFORMATION TO FOLLOW.
Recent Press
Win-Win Plan for Broadway
ERRD’s Win-Win plan for Broadway achieves more than 70% of the City’s new housing goal while preserving historic buildings, supporting small businesses, and protecting the quality of life for Edgewater residents. ERRB urges the City to pursue growth responsibly rather than adopt the DPD’s one-size-fits-all upzoning.
The plan advocates for:
Study and Planning First • Community-Based Input • Targeted Redevelopment • Master Plan for CTA Parcels • Studies on Traffic, Parking, Displacement and Preservation.
Learn More:
👉 Learn more about the Win-Win Plan
👉 View win-win presentations from the Community Forum
To date the Win-Win Petition in support of the Win-Win Alternative has garnered the support of over 650 residents and Broadway businesses.
