We are not asking anyone to block this project. We are asking that nobody vote on it blind.

A developer is seeking to rezone a Lincoln Park parcel from RS-1 to RM-5.5 to build a four-story building roughly 47 feet tall — 56 feet at its peak — set just 4 feet 4 inches from the property line of the homes at 2240–2254 N. Lakewood Avenue. Those homes have exactly two exposures, east and west. This wall takes the west. It takes their afternoon light, their rear yards, their skyline roof decks, and the tall west-facing windows that every one of their listings was sold on. When neighbors asked for a light and shadow study, the developer said it was "relatively expensive" and too preliminary — while volunteering to fund a Fire Department access study at the very same stage. Here is what the public record actually contains:

The developer admitted the renderings "are not the scale" — and that the neighboring building is drawn inaccurately.

Asked directly whether the new building blocks the neighbors' sight lines: "I don't know the answer to that off the top of my head."

The heights of the adjacent buildings were promised on the record and not delivered.

The zoning request was stated two different ways in the same meeting — RM-4 and RM-5.5.

Setbacks: 25 feet at the front, 111 feet at the rear — and 4 feet 4 inches on the only side facing someone's living room.

This is not a matter of taste. Sales data proves that light and view carry hard, permanent dollar value: across 444 closed sales at 2800 N. Lake Shore Drive, identical units differ by 26% based solely on which way the windows face — and at 1550 N. Lake Shore Drive, units low enough to stare into a neighboring building sell for 30% less per square foot than identical units high enough to clear it. That gap never closed in ten years of market swings. Applied here, it means $127,000 to $294,000 per home, permanently, for families who get no vote and no compensation. A shadow study costs a few thousand dollars. This project is six condos priced at one to two million each.

Sign to ask Alderman Brian Hopkins and the Sheffield Neighbors Association to take no position and advance no zoning action until the developer provides:

A shadow and solar access study at all four seasons, modeled against the maximum RM-5.5 envelope
The certified heights of the adjacent buildings — already promised, still missing
Sight-line drawings from the affected windows and roof decks
Corrected, to-scale renderings showing the real neighboring structures
A written clarification of what zoning is actually being requested

If the study comes back reassuring, the developer benefits and this objection disappears. The only reason to refuse a measurement this cheap is not wanting to know the answer.

Miss the meeting? Watch it