ROSCOE VILLAGE — Roscoe Village Pub will remain open and fully operational despite a proposed zoning change for the property, officials said Tuesday.
A notice posted on the door of the bar at 2159 W. Addison St. by Ald. Matt Martin’s office seeks to change the corner tavern from commercial to residential zoning. The sign sparked concern the neighborhood pub is closing.
But Josh Mark, Martin’s director of development, said the request to change the property from neighborhood commercial to residential is essentially a technical move from the alderman’s office. The bar has no plans to close or change, he said.
A few years ago, former Ald. Ameya Pawar back zoned the property to allow the pub to build an outdoor patio and terrace, Mark said. Back zoning allows the city to approve a zoning change, but only for a specific use — in this case, the outdoor patio.
Now that the patio has been completed, the alderman’s office plans to rezone the property to its original classification.
“We’re going to bring the zoning back to what it originally was, basically grandfathering [them] in,” Mark said. “There is no change to anything.”
Mark said that the office staff went through records to follow through on other back-zoned properties. A similar step will be taken at about six other properties, including Bitter Pops, a liquor store and taproom at Lincoln Avenue and Roscoe Street.
Roscoe Village Pub opened in 2014, according to its website. The patio was completed in 2019.
Changing properties back to the bar’s original zoning safeguards the community from further, unspecified development, Mark said. He also said the rezone would allow Roscoe Village Pub to continue operating as a business if the property is sold.
“The grandfathering process is relatively generous,” Mark said.
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