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Policing, Crime and CAPSGold Coast Neighbors Association encourages all members to attend the Chicago’s Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) meetings. Hear the most recent crime issues in our area and when to call 911. CAPS meetings are held the fourth Tuesday of every other month at the Omni Ambassador East Hotel, 1301 North State Parkway. Board Director Mario Stefanini chairs the meetings and the 18th District officers attend to report and answer questions. | ||||||||
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Traffic and Street NoiseWarm weather brings a heavier flow of traffic and street noise to our area. For safety reasons, please report any concerns to the 18th District police, attend a CAPS meeting or in case of emergency, dial 911. GCN, along with neighborhood residents, are working to resolve noise disturbances caused by late night revelers and traffic in the area of State and Division Streets. Members of GCN’s board of Directors attended a CAPS meeting held on January 22, at the Ambassador East Hotel, that was chaired by Mario Stefanini. In addition to neighbors and police officers, Alderman Vi Daley and representatives from the local establishments were in attendance. It was agreed to form a committee to meet regularly to develop solutions to reduce disturbances. If you are interested in joining the committee, please email us at info@goldcoastneighbors.org. | ||||||||
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Goudy Square ParkGoudy Square Park, named for William C. Goudy, a well-respected attorney who served as President of the Lincoln Park Board from 1887 to 1893, is our neighborhood’s park. It is located at the Southeast corner of Astor and Goethe and falls under the jurisdiction of the Chicago Park District. The park was transformed into the special space it is today with children’s playground equipment and wrought iron fences with the generous donations of private citizens in the neighborhood. Gold Coast Neighbors is working in conjunction with Alderman Daley and the City of Chicago to beautify the parkways. Spearheaded by Karen Herman, an association fundraising campaign raised over $25,000 for the plantings and maintenance of the parkways. GCN would like to thank Alderman Daley and Mariani Landscape for their work on the project. Interested in making a contribution? Please send your donation to the association office address. Make check payable to Gold Coast Neighbors and indicate "Goudy Park Parkways" in the memo section to help defray the costs of maintenance. | ||||||||
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DogsThe Gold Coast is home to many of “Man’s best Friends”! We encourage all of our residents to curb and pick up after their dogs. Dog waste can pollute the water and is a source of food for rodents. By cleaning up after your dog, you will help keep our neighborhood clean and free from disease. If you forget to bring a doggie waste bag with you, there are several Gold Coast Neighbors Emergency Doggie Waste Bag Dispensers located throughout the neighborhood. We are urgently in need of individual and/or corporate sponsors to help us continue this project. GCN placed 80,000 bags into dispensers last year. Our volunteers refill the dispensers as frequently as possible, but we're seeking sponsors to help defray the ongoing cost of the bags. Please contact the GCN office at (312)360-0386 if you wish to help. Dispensers Locations Include:
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Sidewalks, Alleys and FencesReport any safety concerns regarding sidewalks directly to Alderman Vi Daley at (773) 327-9111 or Alderman Brendan Reilly at (312) 744-3062. Gold Coast Neighbors Association monitors sidewalk safety, commercial signage on buildings and sidewalks and fence heights for conformance. | ||||||||
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Wooden Alley Preservation ProjectGCN is working with neighbors and city officials to determine the feasibility of preserving and restoring the historic wooden alley located behind the Cardinal's residence. Alderman Daley through the city has put aside $160,000 for the alley. In the Spring of 2008 the east end of the alley will be replaced with a green alley and the west end will be restored. | ||||||||
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1320 North Lake Shore Drive (Banks and Lake Shore Drive)Gold Coast Neighbors Association continues to actively support the neighborhood’s position of maintaining the zoning ordinance that downzones the property at 1320 North Lake Shore Drive and that enacted a height limitation ordinance applicable to all properties between Division and North Avenue, east of the alley west of Dearborn. Gold Coast Neighbors has contributed $160,000 to the Near North Preservation Coalition (NNPC) in the two lawsuits filed to uphold these positions. The most recent ruling in favor of the neighborhood and against the developer, Draper & Kramer, came September 1, 2004 from the First District Appellate Court, validating the City down zoning and height limitation ordinance. Attorney Reuben Hedlund, who has represented the neighborhood since 1997, stated “The enormous support this unique neighborhood has obtained from its residents and aldermen over the years, has once again been rewarded…...The Appellate Court’s “landmark” decision in our case will be helpful nationwide in city and community efforts to preserve the character of historic neighborhoods.” The City of Chicago, in an effort to resolve the case, proposed an alternative to the Draper & Kramer development. Below are the contrasting proposals for the property. •Press Release Sept 1, 2004 - as read by Reuben Hedlund at the Annual Association Meeting Oct 18, 2004 On November 24, 2004 the Supreme Court of Illinois denied Draper & Kramer's petition for leave to appeal seeking review by the Illinois Supreme Court of the Appellate Court's opinion of September 1, 2004, which upheld the constitutionality of the down-zoning and height ordinances applicable to the Near North Historic Area. Therefore, this portion of the case is at long last over, and all that remains is the appeal of Judge Nowicki's decision of October 15, 2004. (from Sarah Deneen, Hedlund & Hanley, LLC) On December 28, 2005 in its fourth ruling in the case, the Illinois Appellate Court upheld Cook County Judge Nowicki's ruling that Draper & Kramer did not have a “vested right” to build the high-rise at 1320 N. Lake Shore Drive even after the city rezoned the site in 1999 to ban the development. Read more at Crain's ChicagoBusiness.com.
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Rodent ControlThanks to the city's very aggressive Rodent Control program, the total number of rats in Chicago today is less than 500,000, down from its high of 6 million in 1979. To help protect against growth, make certain you pick up after your dog and that you close your trash up in lidded containers. The Chicago's Streets and Sanitation Department will fix or replace broken garbage cans. The city also will dispatch rodent abatement crews to every reported rat sighting and place poisoned bait in rat burrows. For Rodent Control services, call 311. | ||||||||
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Tax CapsPublic Act 93-0715 was signed into law and designed to cap increases on assessed value of property so that they will not increase by more than 7% in one year. To find out if your property is eligible, contact Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan’s office at (312) 443-7550. For questions about the law, contact State Representative Sara Feigenholtz at (773) 296-4141 or State Senator, 6th District, John Cullerton at (773) 883-0770. | ||||||||
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54 East ScottThe property at 54 East Scott has been influx. For over a year, an abandoned development was left to deteriorate and become a safety hazard. Thanks to help from Alderman Daley, the City ordered the structure demolished. We are once again seeking the Alderman's assistance in having the owner erect a fence to permanently staunch the flow of illegal parkers on this vacant lot. Additionally, the future of the lot is under consideration. Developers have met with Gold Coast Neighbors' zoning committee, chaired by Jack Telander, to present various plans. GCN is supportive of a successful project on this site that conforms to current zoning ordinances. The site is currently zoned as R5. | ||||||||
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Updated Statement Regarding Lincoln Park South Soccer FieldFebruary 7, 2008 The Latin School and The Chicago Park District are collaborating on the construction of a soccer field in Lincoln Park South. Although Gold Coast Neighbors was not consulted regarding the project prior to the execution of the contract in October 2006 between the School and the Park District, the Park District met with the Board of Directors of Gold Coast Neighbors in July 2007 to review the terms of the contract and the project generally, with a view towards providing additional information and answering questions raised. Since then, Gold Coast Neighbors has participated in various community and other meetings with Aldermen Vi Daley and Brendan Reilly, the Park District, the School and other interested neighborhood and related organizations to discuss the project. In particular, Gold Coast Neighbors joined other organizations and individuals from the community in encouraging the Park District and the School to respond to community input about the proposed soccer field. In October 2007, the School announced that it had met with the Park District and Aldermen Vi Daley and Brendan Reilly to further discuss the initiative and that, based on that meeting and input from the community at large, the parties agreed to changes to the School’s usage times, including:
As a result, the School will be using the soccer field less than 25% of the available time, consistent with the School’s current usage of Park District facilities. The soccer field will be available for use by others for the 75% of the time remaining, subject to the Park District’s permitting process. In November 2007, the School and URS Corporation, the project manager, met with the Board of Directors of Gold Coast Neighbors to provide an update on the status of the project and present the design plans for the soccer field. As always, Gold Coast Neighbors is committed to advancing the interests of the Gold Coast community and its residents. Gold Coast Neighbors has been working collaboratively with the Park District, the School, the project manager, Aldermen Vi Daley and Brendan Reilly and other interested neighborhood and related organizations to address issues of interest to our community, including the landscaping of the area, the nature and timing of the lighting for the soccer field and the nearby baseball fields, the widening of the running trail near the soccer field and the adequacy of drinking fountains in the immediate vicinity to the soccer field. If you have questions or concerns about this project, please contact Gold Coast Neighbors at 312-360-0386. | ||||||||
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3Arts Building Renovation UpdateThe Three Arts Club, owned a splendid four-story brick and terra cotta structure located at 1300 N. Dearborn Parkway designed by noted architect John Holabird of Holabird & Roche. It was first opened as a club in 1914. For more than 90 years, women artists from around the world lived, worked and socialized at the club. Sadly, it closed its doors during the summer of 2004 and the building was subsequently sold. The Purchaser of the property, M Development, sought a change from the current zoning designation of RM-5, a residential designation, to C1-5, a Neighborhood commercial district designation. Jeffrey Shapack of M Development, who addressed the Gold Coast Neighbors Board of Directors in November 2007, stated that the change from residential to commercial zoning is necessary in order to allow the property to conform to its proposed future use as a private social club with lodging. According to Keerthi Ravoori, a spokesman for the city's Zoning Department, M Development is planning to establish a private club that houses a restaurant and lobby on the club's ground floor, with over 30 hotel rooms and a penthouse addition on the rooftop. The 3Arts building was designated a city landmark in 1981. The structure is in the Gold Coast's National Register Historic District and the Near North History Overly District. Due to these important historic designations and the fact that a change in zoning has been requested, Alderman Brendan Reilly of the 42nd Ward called for a public meeting to review the proposed zoning change for this landmark structure. Neighborhood associations, including the Gold Coast Neighbors, were consulted and invited to provide their views on the overall development and the requested zoning change. As mentioned, in November 2007, representatives of M Development presented their plans to the Gold Coast Neighbors Board of Directors. The Board did not take a position on the project, but rather requested written information from M Development, including confirmation of their intent to down-zone the property after its commercial use as a club is approved. The Board and its zoning committee evaluated the proposed project and its impact on our neighborhood. | ||||||||
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Lake Shore Drive Underpass at Oak StreetGCN has been advised that the City of Chicago intends to permanently close the pedestrian underpass beneath Lake Shore Drive at Oak Street due to dangerous structural conditions. The underpass will be filled in because the cost of repairs is too high. GCN is open to exploring alternative solutions to this matter and we urge concerned residents to contact Alderman Reilly’s office at (312) 642-4242 to learn more about the city’s decision. | ||||||||
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