12-03-2025
Public hearing on city's zoning plan set for tonight
Lockport residents can voice their opinions on a draft zoning plan and map at 6 p.m. today at a public hearing at city hall. The hearing, which caps off a lengthy process of zoning evaluation by Colliers Engineering, the city corporation counsel's office, the common council, and stakeholders, is meant to preserve the character of neighborhoods across the five wards, correct inaccurate categories, and provide a framework for future development.
'We have some very outdated restrictions on some things like sheds, and driveways, and chickens,' said Alderwoman Margaret Lupo of the 5th Ward. 'This will help building inspection and code compliance do their jobs. I have heard from some residents, and they mostly want to make sure the integrity of their neighborhoods remains.'
If zoning creates restrictions, residents may wonder what good it does.
Anthony Serianni, the city's deputy corporation counsel, who has been deeply involved in the draft zoning plan, said it creates communities with common priorities.
'It's largely a tool to protect the interests of the community as a whole. It protects the ability for people to have a right to quietly enjoy their homes without interference from outside property owners.'
America is approaching the 100th birthday of zoning. Back in horse and buggy days, property owners had the unrestricted right to use their parcels and plots however they wanted. This created the popular image of small town main streets, with stores, workshops, and homes mixed together. Someone lived next to the bakery, and someone else lived next to the blacksmith.
In a 1926 case, the US Supreme Court decided that zoning laws promoted the public's health, safety, and welfare, and were legal under the government's traditional police powers. 'The underlying rationale for zoning laws at that time was to separate industrial uses with their noxious smells, effluent, noise, and intensity from residential neighborhoods in order to provide a cleaner, safer, and more healthy environment,' said Christine Neal Westover in the National Law Review.
The result has been districts or neighborhoods with distinct uses.
'It keeps where you go to work and where you live in two separate areas,' Serianni said. 'It ensures that when you go home and decide to relax, you're not going to be bothered by the ongoing impacts of industrial or commercial activity. It helps create an appropriate environment for activities.'
After decades of zoning implementation, Serianni said people now place a certain intangible value on the character of communities. While mixed-use zones, that allow businesses and residences together, can have their conflicts, other people gravitate to such 'walkable' neighborhoods with services and products available within a few blocks.
'The dream of the mixed-use community is where you have boutiques on the first floor and upper-level apartments,' Serianni said. 'So then if you need to get your groceries, you walk downstairs, and it can eliminate the need for a vehicle. That vision only works in an area where you have those relatively densely populated residences. The closer you get to downtown in Lockport, the closer you can get to having the mixed-use vision implemented.'
Serianni said it's important to recognize that not all neighborhoods have the character of downtown. Many Lockport residents have agreed, communicating to the city council what they want to be included and excluded in their neighborhoods.
'Some people have concerns that they want to keep single-family houses single family,' Lupo said about discussions to allow conversions to duplexes. Lupo said homeowners have expressed worries about absentee landlords and a lack of on-street parking. 'I think it's mostly residents who are paying a very high rate of property tax. We need to listen to the people who pay high property taxes because that's where we get the bulk of our money in Lockport.'
Community members can find the proposed zoning plan and map online at .
