Robbins adopts zoning code amendments to encourage mixed-use development near Metra station

Last month, the Village of Robbins Board of Trustees adopted equitable transit-oriented development (ETOD) zoning code amendments developed with the RTA’s assistance via the Community Planning program. The RTA’s Community Planning program provides funding and technical assistance to local governments to help foster the growth of sustainable, equitable, walkable, and transit-friendly communities. Since 1998, RTA has completed more than 200 projects across six counties.

Robbins is a small village of approximately 5,000 residents in the Southwest Suburbs of Chicago and one of the oldest African American incorporated towns in the northern U.S. It is served by Metra’s Rock Island Line and Pace Bus routes 359 and 385. In 2022, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District began work on the Robbins Stormwater Park, located a half-mile north of the Robbins Metra station, to mitigate frequent flooding and unlock previously undevelopable land near the station. The project will allow new development opportunities west of the train station by removing land from the Midlothian Creek Flood Plain.

Amid this revitalization, the zoning code amendments are intended to be transit supportive, encourage economic development, and advance strategies outlined in the 2020 Robbins Transit Oriented Development and Industrial Areas Plan, developed with the assistance of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) and the RTA. For a community with long-standing disinvestment and frequent flooding challenges, these zoning changes help position Robbins for new housing, retail, and mixed-use opportunities near transit.

Key zoning code amendments include:

Establishing an ETOD overlay district, allowing mixed-use development and a 25% reduction in minimum off-street parking requirements within a half mile of the Metra station.
Allowing the ETOD overlay district to be used for residential uses on ground-floor buildings, subject to Village discretion.
Adding residential units above ground-floor commercial space as allowable uses in the B1 Neighborhood Business District and B2 General Business District, districts that are generally located along major transportation corridors in the Village such as 137^th Street, Clare Boulevard, and 139^th Street. Prior to these amendments, these zoning districts only allowed commercial uses.
Increasing maximum allowable building heights in some residential zones, including from 35 feet to 48 feet in the R-4 multiple family residential district, and from 26 feet to 36 feet in the R-2 single family attached and two-family residential district. These districts are located throughout the Village but are generally concentrated near transportation corridors such as 135^th Street, 139^th Street, Clare Boulevard, Kedzie Avenue, and Pulaski Road.