The Chicago Bears plan to add two practice football fields to their Lake Forest property.
Adding the fields to the existing Halas Hall complex will enable the team to rotate practices and keep the fields in better condition, said Brandon Faber, a spokesman for the Chicago Bears organization.
The team would also like to build a training slope, a storage facility and a small viewing suite.
The land is currently zoned for office buildings, said Cathy Czerniak, community development director for the city of Lake Forest. While the Chicago Bears will need building permits, the property does not require a zoning changed or variance from the city.
The location of two wetlands on the property, however, means the project has to be reviewed and approved by several governmental entities.
One of the two wetlands is a .13 acre “non-high quality isolated wetland,” said Glenn Westman, wetlands specialist for the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission.
More Top Picks Best Dehumidifiers
“One important requirement is that they mitigate the wetland impact,” Westman said. “They’ve already done that by purchasing mitigation bank credits.”
Westman explained that an area within the North Branch of the Chicago River watershed in Green Oaks has been restored to wetlands by a private company.
“Eventually those areas will be high-quality wetlands,” he said. “The idea is that if a developer impacts a wetland area, (they are) to buy these acres of credit in a mitigation bank at a 1.5 to 1 ratio. The idea is to make sure there is no loss of wetland in Lake County.”
Westman said he is well into the review and “it’s probably nearing approval.”
The other wetland on the site is a one-fifth acre area that is under federal jurisdiction.
Kathy Chernich, east section chief of the Chicago office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, confirmed that the Army Corps is reviewing an application by the Chicago Bears organization.
When the agency is finished with its review, it will pass it along to other government agencies for comment including the U.S. EPA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Illinois EPA and possibly the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, she said.
The Chicago Bears have reached out to the Lake County Forest Preserves and Lake Forest Open Lands Association for input, Czerniak said. The Forest Preserves has adjacent land and there will be a buffer area of about 40 feet between the two properties, she said.
Neither entity returned calls requesting comment.
Twitter: @reportedude