Back in February, a lawyer representing the Winnetka Park District exhorted the Village of Winnetka’s Zoning Board of Appeals to entertain the park district’s newly revised — but unsubmitted — plans for fencing in its dog beach, because summer couldn’t wait.
The Zoning Board of Appeals quickly shot down the Park District’s bid to hasten its much-debated dog enclosure at Centennial Beach. And when the newest proposal finally appeared before that Board on Monday, March 9, the reaction didn’t become any friendlier.
After getting panned by Zoning Board members, the Park District’s dog beach plans racked up another negative reception from that Board. Members voted unanimously, 7-0, to effectively recommend against approving the project, a decision the Zoning Board was set to formalize the following Monday, March 16.
“It fails many of the standards that we have here to evaluate,” said Mark Haller, a Zoning Board of Appeals member. “I’m a little puzzled by the continued efforts to make whatever modifications needed to stick with exactly this plan, rather than listening and going back and thinking about all of the other options.”
The negative recommendation won’t prevent the project from advancing to the Winnetka Village Council, but it follows a similar decision by the Plan Commission based on a previous version of the proposal, which has become the latest episode in Winnetka’s long-brewing debate over what to do with its lakefront.
Under the current plan, the Park District would enclose Centennial Beach’s southern half with chain-link fencing, allowing dogs to roam freely. In a new twist, the other half would operate as a non-swimming, staffed beach.
Centennial Beach’s proposed dual use drew brickbats from some members of the Zoning Board of Appeals, especially given that people would access both portions via the existing narrow staircase.
“Literally, the dogs can swim at Centennial Beach, but the people can’t,” said Matthew Bradley, the board’s chairman.
Potential conflicts between people and dogs, the low usage of the dog beach and the Park District’s push to prioritize the project all emerged as criticisms. The Park District had already acknowledged that the winding approval process could delay the project’s completion until 2027.
The same attorney who had once urged the faster consideration of the dog beach project eventually bristled at the Zoning Board of Appeals as its lengthy questioning wore on.
“In administering the special use standards here, it’s my opinion, respectfully, that it’s not for the Zoning Board, the Village Council or the Plan Commission to replace the judgment of the Park District Board,” Hal Francke said, to scattered jeers from the audience.
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Indeed, when it came time for public comment, residents pilloried the Park District’s proposal. Some brought poster boards to accompany their criticisms, while one man, Steve Juliusson, printed T-shirts for the occasion.
Referencing a contentious donation pact with billionaire Justin Ishbia, the otherwise blank white shirts blasted the Park District for spending money on “beach plans for a billionaire” and continued to read, “and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.” He offered them for $15 apiece. (After the meeting, some attendees handed over cash to get a piece of Juliusson’s message.)
Centennial Beach borders the billionaire’s under-construction mansion, whose lakefront area’s public access has become a thorny issue. Another conflict resides in the yet-to-be-executed $3 million donation agreement, which the Park District Board approved in 2024 and would dictate certain features of the beach under a 50-year restrictive covenant.
It’s unclear how the Park District Board, which meets next on March 26, will proceed. It had spent much of its previous meeting on Feb. 26 hammering out details on the dog beach plan, anticipating its appearance before the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Even then, however, the drawn-out process had some Park District Board commissioners thinking of some more expedient options.
Since it envisions an eventual transformation of Centennial Beach and neighboring Elder Lane Beach, the Park District had originally framed the dog beach fencing as a temporary project. As the complexities of the requisite permitting began to unfold, it stopped calling the project temporary because it had no end date.
The evident delays spurred some members of the Park District Board on Feb. 26 to pitch more immediate ways to contain dogs at Centennial Beach, which currently requires that dogs be leashed.
The commissioners pondered over how much it should push to enforce the dog leash rules, calling it a safety issue. Commissioner Cynthia Rapp even pushed the district to consider putting up some “truly temporary” fencing before the more-permanent fencing takes shape.
In fact, the Park District had helped precipitate the current quagmire when it posted fences in 2023, a project that the village ordered to stop because it lacked permits. Acknowledging that history, Rapp said things could be different now.
“Sometimes things that we thought were impossible can become possible,” she said.
Some commissioners proposed methods for the Park District to help beef up enforcement of the dog leash rules. One way could involve collaborating with the village and the Winnetka Police Department to issue citations to dog-owning scofflaws and handle them locally.
The Park District Board ultimately called for the district to work with the village to consider putting up temporary fencing. Commissioner Scott Corley dissented, saying that he knew that a temporary fencing scheme could not happen.