The Winnetka Park District is working with staff to finalize drafts of the permits required for work to begin on the Elder Lane and Centennial beach project.
The board voted 4-2 to direct Park District staff to prepare and submit new permits with the updated beach design during the Oct. 19 board meeting. Commissioners Cynthia Rapp and Colleen Root voted against the motion saying they wanted more time for the public to digest the updated designs.
The final iteration of the permits are expected at the Nov. 30 Park District board meeting.
The original permits were pulled from consideration in June 2022 in a narrow vote by the board after residents pushed back against billionaire resident Justin Ishba’s involvement.
Feathers have been ruffled in the village for years concerning the project. A majority of the concern is surrounding a land swap agreement between Ishbia and the Park District that was signed more than three years ago in October 2020. The deal would see Ishbia swap property he owns at 261 Sheridan Road, which sits directly between Elder and Centennial beaches, for an equal sized parcel at the southern end of Centennial.
After multiple rounds of negotiations post-signing, the swap has become dormant, according to both Ishbia and the Park District. Ishbia has since offered a $3 million donation to the Park District to reach the amount needed to get the proposed beach finished in one fell swoop instead of two stages. Negotiations for the donation are ongoing with potential naming rights to the dog beach section of Centennial being considered.
Debate was sparked during the Nov. 16 board meeting concerning the inclusion of documents linked to a previous permit submitted jointly with Ishbia who also owns property immediately south of Centennial Park. Root wanted there to be no mention of the previous plans in the new permit to avoid confusion from residents who have been closely following the issue and would likely be reviewing the permits.
“We are going to have members of the public that are reviewing this,” Root said. “We need to be transparent with our public.”
Jon Shabica, vice president of Shabica and Associates which is working on the project with the Park District, said the inclusion of the old permits helps to show regulators there has been thoughtful consideration of previous public comment.
“There were so many public comments that I feel have been addressed in the redesign,” Shabica said. “It was really from the standpoint to expedite permitting … the person that’s going to be reviewing it is the same person that reviewed the original permit application.”
Ishbia is not a party in the new permits. He has already submitted and gotten approved permits for projects on his own property, including space abutting Park District property. The Park District originally wanted to work with Ishbia to design the space at the southern end of Centennial in an effort to prevent the construction of multiple structures on that section of beach.
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Board President Christina Codo said the board needs to remember the permitting agencies are the audience for the documents and there is a trail for the public to follow provided by the Park District online.
Root pushed to have the permit not be categorized as a resubmittal saying it could be considered inaccurate, but Codo said she would like to defer to the experts.
“We’ve spent 17 months listening to people,” Codo said.
Permits for the project will need to be submitted to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and the Army Corps of Engineers. The newest body the Park District will have to submit to is the village itself. The Winnetka Village Council voted in July to approve the creation of a lakefront preservation overlay district that provides extra regulations beyond existing zoning codes to protect certain kinds of land, in this case on publicly owned land in the village.
The ordinance has allowed the village to create a new process to approve lakefront permits that the beach plan will have to go through. According to Director of Parks and Maintenance Costa Kutulas, permits would go through the Planning Commission, Zoning Commission, Design and Review Board along with two reviews by the Village Council.
“We are still learning this process with them with the bluff steep slope ordinances that are going to be put in place in the near future,” Kutulas said.
Village Council met Tuesday, Nov. 14 for another study session on the lakefront. Drafts of potential steep slope and lot consolidation regulations were presented. Lot consolidations larger than twice the minimum required width and size for the zone would require special-use permits if the drafted ordinance was approved.
The expected timeline for the permits would see them submitted in early December with hopes they are returned by all agencies in August 2024.