Zoning Cleared for Medical Center's Second Parking Garage

The Oak Lawn Planning and Development Commission approved zoning requests

Commissioners recommended that a special-use permit be granted, allowing the parking structure to be built in a residential zoned area, along with height and parking variations. All three zoning requests still need the village board’s final approval.

The new parking garage is set to break ground across the street from Hope Children’s Hospital at 93rd Street and Kostner Avenue this fall. Planners say the height of the structure will not exceed 80 feet and will mostly likely “mirror” the medical center’s adjacent East Tower parking garage. The new parking garage is expected to hold 585 cars.

The medical center wants to build the structure at approximately the same time as the Street and Kilbourn Avenue.

Patrick Lyons, director of construction for Advocate Healthcare, said medical center officials have been meeting regularly with residents to discuss plans for the ambulatory pavilion.

“We want to be good neighbors,” Lyons said.

The medical center has also hired a traffic-engineering firm to come up with measures to control traffic to and from its campus without greatly impacting the quality of life in the surrounding neighborhood.

Suggested improvements include striping 93rd Street to create parking lanes, installing speed bumps, and restricting access on 93rd Street to help slow down traffic.

Lyons said the second parking structure offers positive benefits for both the medical center and the neighborhood because it provides 300 more parking spaces than required by the village’s zoning code. The medical center also plans to add more underground water detention.

Medical center officials plan to hold workshops to work out a traffic control plan with neighborhood residents.

“We want to make sure that everything is well thought out and all the pros and cons are put into place to see how they work over time,” Lyons said. “We want to come away with some good options that residents can feel good about.”

Oak Lawn Trustee Tom Duhig (4th District) will be coordinating the resident workshops with medical center officials.