Burr Ridge Village Board votes unanimously to oppose Pritzker ‘Section 8 Everywhere’ plan

BURR RIDGE — The Village of Burr Ridge has joined a growing number of Illinois municipalities backing local control over zoning and land-use decisions, formally opposing portions of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s housing agenda and warning against state-imposed development mandates.

The Village Board on May 11 adopted Resolution No. R-11-26, “Resolution Supporting Municipal Housing Authority,” on a unanimous 6-0 vote.

Trustees Snyder, Franzese, Schiappa, Paveza, Mital and Smith all voted in favor of the measure, with no votes opposed or absent.

The resolution states that Burr Ridge “has the responsibility to promote public health, safety, and general welfare by regulating land use, density, and development standards within the Village,” and argues that municipal control over zoning, parking, infrastructure and stormwater management is necessary to ensure orderly community growth.

Village officials also directly criticized Pritzker’s BUILD initiative, opposing what the resolution describes as “centralizing many housing decisions under a one-size-fits-all approach to housing development.”

The board further rejected the premise “that municipal authority over housing development is causing a crisis in housing affordability and a bottleneck” in development.

The measure comes amid an ongoing statewide debate over Pritzker-backed housing proposals aimed at expanding residential density and limiting local zoning restrictions in communities across Illinois. Supporters argue the reforms are necessary to address housing shortages and affordability concerns, while critics contend the proposals would weaken municipal authority and reshape established residential neighborhoods.

In its findings, the Burr Ridge board declared that “existing municipal authority for land use and zoning is essential for the continuing vitality of the Village and State of Illinois,” adding that housing decisions are best managed by officials “who have the best understanding of the locality in which proposed housing will be located.”

At the same time, the resolution acknowledged the need for additional housing options and stated the village is “supportive of further dialogue and ideas” to help address housing needs while maintaining local control.

The resolution urges the Illinois General Assembly and governor to preserve municipal zoning authority “without additional restrictions on municipal governments and communities they serve.”

The village also requested that the governor’s office work with municipalities and developers to craft housing proposals that maintain local control while addressing housing development needs statewide.

Under the measure, the village clerk is directed to forward a copy of the resolution to the Illinois Municipal League.

The Illinois Municipal League, which represents all 1,294 cities, villages, and towns in the state, has led the opposition and circulated a model resolution that towns, including Burr Ridge, have adopted. The league has offered its own alternative, the Reducing Expenses and Advancing Local (REAL) Housing Act, an incentive-based plan it says would expand housing without preempting local zoning.

The bills remain pending; a Senate committee took testimony in late April without a vote, and the spring session ends May 31.

Would Pritzker's plan bring more government-subsidized housing to Burr Ridge?

For many residents who packed recent board discussions, the technical debate over zoning preemption comes down to a simpler question: whether the bill would bring more federally subsidized housing — including Section 8 tenants — to Burr Ridge.

Pritzker's proposal itself does not specifically mandate subsidized Section 8 or "affordable" housing. 

But HB 5626 would make Section 8 expansion inevitable, deeming multi-unit buildings legal to construct "by right." The law would force single-family neighborhoods to allow apartments whose owners, by state law, aren't allowed to deny them to someone paying with a Section 8 voucher.

Illinois also has a separate law that continually pressures towns to add Section 8 housing.

The "Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act," or AHPAA, passed in 2003, requires municipalities where less than 10% of housing qualifies as "affordable" to adopt a plan to add more. Housing developers denied a permit for Section 8 projects in those towns can appeal to a state Housing Appeals Board that can override the local decision. 

A 2023 amendment, effective January 2026, broadened who may file such an appeal to include "housing advocacy" organizations, who commonly work with the developers to promote Section 8 projects.

There are currently 44 municipalities, including Burr Ridge, Hinsdale, Wayne, Oak Brook and Elmhurst in DuPage County, that the state claims don't have enough "affordable housing."

Part of the concern reflects the demographic change that has reshaped many inner-ring Cook County suburbs over the past half-century.

In Section 8-heavy Bellwood, for example, U.S. Census figures show the village went from about 1% Black in 1970 to roughly 70% by 1990; as of the 2020 Census it was about 68% Black and 27% Hispanic, with White residents under 3% of the population. Neighboring Maywood, also a Section 8 apartment hub, was about 60% Black and 34% Hispanic in 2020.

In a City Journal essay arguing for ending the Section 8 program, Manhattan Institute scholar Howard Husock wrote that the vouchers "ruin neighborhoods and perpetuate poverty," and reported that south suburban Cook County had absorbed a majority of the county housing authority's vouchers, citing residents and officials in towns such as Richton Park, Matteson and Riverdale who said the program imported disorder and pushed up local costs. 

Critics of Pritzker's plan make a similar argument today: that mandating apartments in single-family areas, combined with Illinois' ban on "source-of-income discrimination," will channel more voucher-based housing into communities that now have little.