Downers Grove board opposes Pritzker’s ‘Section 8 Everywhere’ proposal, cites threat to local zoning authority

DOWNERS GROVE — The Village of Downers Grove has joined a growing number of Illinois municipalities opposing Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s BUILD housing proposal, arguing the plan would undermine local zoning authority and impose a “one size fits all” approach to residential development.

The Village Council adopted Resolution No. 2026-41, titled “A Resolution of the Village of Downers Grove in Support of Municipal Housing Authority and in Opposition of the BUILD Proposal,” warning that state-mandated density requirements would erode local control over land use and development decisions.

The resolution states that Downers Grove, as a home rule municipality, has the responsibility to regulate “land use, density and development standards within the Village in a manner commensurate with the unique issues impacting its residents and the various communities within the Village.”

Village officials argued that zoning decisions are best made by local officials who understand the character and infrastructure needs of their communities. The resolution says municipal zoning authority helps “protect property values, manage traffic flow, ensure adequate infrastructure and guide orderly community growth.”

The measure also pushes back on the premise underlying the BUILD proposal, arguing that increased residential density alone would not necessarily improve affordability because housing costs are also driven by land prices, labor, materials, financing and other market conditions.

The resolution specifically cites a package of BUILD-related legislation, including SB 4060 through SB 4064 and HB 5626, saying the proposals “raise significant concerns regarding the loss of local zoning and development authority.”

At the same time, village officials emphasized that Downers Grove has already taken steps to support attainable housing development. The resolution notes that the village worked with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus on an attainable housing study, amended zoning regulations to allow additional dwelling units, and recently adopted a comprehensive plan supporting “missing-middle housing and higher-density development.”

Village leaders nevertheless argued that housing policy should remain under municipal control, stating that “existing municipal authority governing land use and zoning is essential for the continuing community vitality of the Village.”

The resolution urges the Illinois General Assembly and governor to oppose the BUILD proposal and “preserve municipal control over land use and zoning in its current form without additional State-imposed restrictions on municipal governments and the communities they serve.”

Village officials also called on state lawmakers to collaborate with local governments on housing policy and instead focus on issues affecting affordability, including funding shortages, infrastructure investment, and technical assistance for affordable housing developments.

Under the measure, the village clerk is directed to forward a copy of the resolution to the governor and the Illinois General Assembly.

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 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 Downers Grove?

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 Downers Grove.

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." Downers Grove is not one of them.

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.