# Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy meeting, July 23, 2025

- When: Wed, Jul 23, 2025, 10:00 AM (Chicago time)
- Where: City Council Chamber, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street - Chicago, IL 60602
- Status: Scheduled & Published
- Committee: [Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/committee/environmental-protection-and-energy)
- Video: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/1103582650
- Transcript: [full text](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/transcripts/1103582650.txt) (16,819 words, automatic captions)

## Meeting notes

> AI-written from the transcript. Speakers are inferred from cues in the recording, so treat names as estimates and check the video at the linked time.

The Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy, chaired by Alderperson Maria E. Hadden, held an informational hearing on bird-friendly building design. Eleven public commenters, many of them volunteer bird collision monitors, urged a mandatory bird-safe building ordinance and cited the 2023 mass collision at McCormick Place. The committee recommended passage of resolution R2024-0010861 calling for the hearings and approved its Rule 45 report. A DPD official said about half of projects under the 2024 Sustainable Development Policy now choose bird protection strategies. Panelists from the American Bird Conservancy, Skyline Design, BOMA Chicago, Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, Studio Gang and Loyola University spoke on costs, design options, lighting and the office market. The chair said she favors an ordinance that goes further and asked members to share feedback from developers. No ordinance was before the committee.

Topics: bird-friendly building design, bird collisions, Sustainable Development Policy, bird-safe glass costs, lighting and Lights Out, McCormick Place retrofit, office market conditions, public comment

### Agenda items discussed

- [51:06](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=3066) Approval of the June Rule 45 report: passed
- [51:29](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=3089) Resolution calling for hearings on bird-friendly building design in the City of Chicago (R2024-0010861): passed

### Alderpersons who spoke

- [Maria E. Hadden](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/49) (chair): Described the McCormick Place collisions, low-cost fixes such as patterned or UV-coated glass, other cities' ordinances, and the 2020 ordinance weighting bird protection points. ([52:36](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=3156)); Said she personally favors a bird-friendly ordinance that goes further and that the panel showed bird-safe glass is less costly than developers had suggested. ([2:04:57](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=7497)); Encouraged alderpersons to ask developers about bird collision prevention and to share feedback from builders and building managers with the committee. ([2:07:07](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=7627))
- [Bennett R. Lawson](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/44) (alderperson): Asked Loyola whether older campus buildings had been retrofitted. ([1:52:36](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=6756)); Asked whether the main danger zone is the first ten stories or 100 feet of a building. ([1:54:46](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=6886)); Asked whether collisions are concentrated geographically and requested neighborhood-level data. ([1:57:07](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=7027))
- [Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/48) (alderperson): Said her lakefront community cares about bird migration and thanked Loyola and BOMA for discussing lighting and blind strategies. ([1:59:31](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=7171)); Said housing near new transit should not be hindered but should be paired with bird protection, and urged advocates to also contact state representatives. ([2:00:47](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=7247)); Said developers in Edgewater and Uptown are already pursuing sustainability and asked how the city can strengthen wildlife protections. ([2:02:15](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=7335))
- [Ruth Cruz](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/30) (alderperson): Said the intent is not to hinder development but to do the right thing, and to showcase and educate about buildings that have adopted bird-safe measures. ([2:02:57](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=7377))

### Exchanges between members

- [1:51:56](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=6716) Lawson thanked the chair for assembling the panel.
- [2:00:47](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=7247) Manaa-Hoppenworth echoed Lawson's point about not hindering housing construction.
- [2:02:57](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=7377) Cruz thanked the chair and her staff for collaborating on the hearing.
- [2:06:28](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6?t=7588) Hadden acknowledged Lawson's call to find solutions that offset added regulation.

## Documents

- [Other](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/clerk/meetingattachmentspublic/6ad76322-8dab-4e30-a804-be70f316abaf.pdf)
- [Other](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/clerk/meetingattachmentspublic/63f9667b-c9b0-4014-838c-503fe0e22661.pdf)
- [Other](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/clerk/meetingattachmentspublic/2658f73a-e9af-441a-a061-16913d8b2859.pptx)
- [Other](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/clerk/meetingattachmentspublic/1cca7df3-efc8-4914-a749-303dfbf4ea13.pptx)
- [Monthly Rule 45](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/clerk/meetingattachmentspublic/b7ad6fd7-185c-4290-a57a-aad446800328.pdf)
- [Other](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/clerk/meetingattachmentspublic/c8ac24e9-5bf5-40d0-a5c8-6e03336426c9.pptx)
- [Summary](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/clerk/meetingattachmentspublic/b055779d-861e-4e84-9b55-84970fc5a4e6.pdf)
- [Agenda](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/clerk/meetingattachmentspublic/f0c356f2-4bf9-4a4b-a8e1-875f1e9eb2c8.pdf)
- [Notice](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/clerk/meetingattachmentspublic/78795e46-e660-f011-bec1-001dd8305cc6.pdf)

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Source: https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/C2FC255C-E560-F011-BEC1-001DD8305CC6 · Chicago Politics, an independent, nonpartisan tracker of the Chicago City Council. Guide for agents: https://www.chicagopolitics.org/llms.txt