ENGLEWOOD – A nearly 20-year plan to create more housing, fresh food production, commercial businesses and improved public parks near a nature trail in the heart of Englewood is moving forward after overwhelming approval by a city council member.

The city’s Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday to adopt the Englewood Agro-Eco District land use plan. The detailed vision, led by the community, Grow Greater Englewood and the city’s Planning and Development Department, calls for redevelopment of the land surrounding the proposed $82.8 million Englewood Nature Trail.

The trail will transform a disused 1.7-mile (2.8 km) railroad track into a 12-foot-wide, handicap-accessible, elevated multi-use path. The trail will run behind 58th and 59th Streets between Wallace Avenue and Hoyne Avenue.

The plan calls for parcels of land along the trail that could be developed into public parks, agricultural land, new housing and mixed-use buildings. The affected properties are within a quarter-mile of the trail, according to officials.

As part of the mixed-use component of the plan, an $8.8 million environmental redevelopment project in the Throop St. Cluster will convert city-owned properties near the nature trail into businesses such as restaurants, nutrition education facilities and mixed-use buildings, officials said.

The city planning department has already secured funding for the Throop project, said Kathy Dickhut, deputy director of the city’s Planning and Development Department. Specific projects have not been determined yet, but officials plan to fence off the area soon and put up a sign announcing the reuse project, she said.

Redeveloping the land along these lines will revitalize the community, advocates and officials said.

The area affected by the zoning plan spans Stephanie Coleman (16th) and Raymond Lopez (15th) wards. Dickhut shared zoning change recommendations that aldermen can bring to the City Council to allow the projects to go forward in their wards.

The land use plan for the Englewood Agro-Eco District is “one part of a much larger project,” Dickhut said. State, local and federal grants are funding the Englewood Nature Trail, and construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2026, Dickhut said.

The Englewood zoning plan “marks a very important milestone for us in bringing more light to the heart of Chicago,” said Anton Seals Jr., chief administrator of Grow Greater Englewood.

The Englewood metropolitan area has been facing disinvestment for decades, Seals said.

Black residents are leaving the community at “alarming rates” and health disparities have created a 10-year gap in life expectancy, Seals said. The zoning plan is “critical to creating a plan for future development” and preventing further disinvestment, he said.

“Our mantra, ‘We deserve beautiful places,’ is not just about superficial beauty – it’s about the beauty of the community that turns a few bad lemons into the best, most refreshing lemonade,” Seals said.

Developers building projects in the Englewood Agro-Eco District must agree to a Community Repair Compact, Seals said.

The agreement, which was reached after numerous discussions with thousands of neighbors, ensures that residents can continue to live in Englewood at affordable prices and benefit from the economic impact of the multimillion-dollar project.

Rather than reaching an agreement on community benefits after the work is completed, Greater Englewood is moving forward with “established structures in which we would like to see you participate in the community,” Seals said.

“This is an opportunity to address the broken bureaucratic functions that continue to make it difficult for Black citizens to fully access what we create,” Seals said. “To stop the ongoing degradation of our community by parasites who just want to come in and make money but don’t really love or respect us as a community.”

Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) supported Grow Greater Englewood’s plan to put neighbors’ needs first.

La Spata, whose district includes the Bloomingdale Trail The 606 in Logan Square, “knows the power of a trail and a resource like this,” he said Thursday.

The 2.7-mile elevated bike and walking path has spurred economic growth on the Northwest Side, but neighborhoods near the trail have seen the highest rates of gentrification and displacement of longtime residents in the city over the past decade.

The City Council, under the leadership of La Spata and local councilors, recently passed an anti-gentrification ordinance to prevent further displacement.

Grow Greater Englewood launched a Community Control School this year to give neighbors the tools to advocate for economic development, land ownership, environmental justice and quality housing in the community.

“We’re not here to vote and then just send it out and forget it,” La Spata said. “Hopefully we as a commission and also those of us who serve in public office will be involved in solidarity in the implementation and accountability to make sure that this plan meets the vision that comes from within your community and not from outside.”

Erika Allen, co-founder and CEO of the Urban Growers Collective, and Jay Readey, president of NeighborScapes, attended Thursday’s gathering to celebrate the community project.

The Urban Growers Collective’s renewable energy and urban agriculture campus in Auburn Gresham was one of two projects to receive the $10 million Chicago Prize in 2020.

“We all know that there are huge, huge disparities in wealth and life expectancy in the city,” Allen said. “This project is a real example of what we can accomplish when we use our resources to pursue justice and reparations through reparations.”

There is a “paradigm shift” taking place in Englewood that people are watching in real time, said Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd).

“…Sometimes we give up on our land because we don’t see a future in it or because we think the grass is greener somewhere else,” Dowell said. “But in our communities, the grass is green. You just have to hold on to it.”

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