On Thursday, May 26th, the Winnetka Park District held a public meeting. Topic: The addition of a steel wall/structure to the proposed Elder/Centennial Beach. Packed house. Inside voices. All but two opposed to the recent changes to the Winnetka Park District's Waterfront 2030 Master Plan.
The original Plan, approved in 2016 after lengthy discussions and community input, called for combining two beaches - Centennial and Elder.
Best case, acquire the property between the two beaches, land swap, style. Trade that property for the WPD's land on the south side of the beach. Quid pro perfect.
Until it wasn't.
Wait...What...?
Rock meet hard place. Somewhere during the negotiations, the issue of a wall came up. Steel, louvers, landscaping, high-fives. The WPD held a couple of open houses to show and tell what it thought was an updated and improved Plan.
Problem was, a lot of residents thought it wasn't an improvement, high-fives or not.
Where's the view? Where's the contiguous access? What's with that wall?
In an online minute, a firestorm of opposition. A change.org petition netted more than 500 sigs in its first 24 hours. By the time of the meeting, more than 600 had logged in and read into the record. The WPD was put on notice.
Beautiful Drawings vs the Big Picture
According to Warren James, Winnetka Parks Board President, years of work and due diligence had gone into the plan and several portions of the project are complete or well underway.
Believing it, but not buying it. Citing the Illinois Public Trust Doctrine (landmarked here), among other points, Thursday night's attendees, including a 17-year veteran of the Winnetka Park Board, a former Winnetka Village Trustee, and a prominent Northwestern University Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor, echoed the public comments:
Bad precedent. Does a single resident get to wall off his property beyond the beach, into the water? No other home along the beachfront has been granted such an exception.
Winnetka's beaches aren’t for sale. They belong to the public, regardless of the opportunity to connect the beaches.
Short-sighted solution. The steel wall would block the public views from both the north and south.
Public vs private interests. The Park Board, as a representative of the taxpayers, needs to balance the public interest over the interests of one individual.
Short-term solution vs long-term benefit. For more than 100 years, it's been two parks, two beaches. The chance to connect them is nice, but at what cost? If the deal for the land swap doesn't go through, we can live with it for another 100.
When one of the Board called a motion to stick in the clutch and revisit the Plan, no one seconded. So now it's your turn.
Love the Plan? Hate the Plan? Got a question? Comment?
The IDNR is giving you until June 2nd to speak up or forever hold your peace..
Here are the people to contact:
llinois Department of Natural Resources reps:
Local Peps:
State Representative Robyn Gabel
Illinois Senator Laura Fine
Winnetka Parks Board - reach all Commissioners with one note:
Winnetka Park District
Admin + Recreation Office
540 Hibbard Road, Winnetka, IL 60093
F: (847) 501-5779 E: wpdinfo@winpark.org
Here's The Plan:
Elder and Centennial Park and Beach Project Presentation
Here's what else you need to know:
Winnetka Park District Waterfront 2030 Project and Plans
Check out the petition: Change.org.