Brickbat: They Tell Me You Are Wicked and I Believe Them

A couple’s plans to convert an empty building in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood into a home for their family has met resistance from some neighbors. The couple wants to add a garage with wheelchair ramp and elevator for their daughter, who uses a wheelchair. But some neighbors will oppose the plans before the zoning appeals board, saying the garage is not in keeping with the historic nature of the neighborhood. “I understand that the people who purchased the house have a child that requires special needs,” Steve Weiss, president of the Old Town Triangle Association, wrote in a letter to his alderman. “What I don’t understand is why they chose to buy a house in a Landmark Zone when you have these needs. I don’t mean to be heartless or uncaring but this is not the neighborhood for that. Here you conform to the rules, not the other way around.”