Winnetka Park District Board votes to submit permits for Elder/Centennial beach project

The Winnetka Park District Board voted to submit permits for the most recent design plans of the Elder Lane and Centennial beach rebuild project more than a year after the original permits were pulled and three years after the original land swap agreement was signed.

The board voted 4-2 to authorize Park District staff to submit permits for the latest iteration of the project to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Village of Winnetka.

Permits for previous beach plans were narrowly pulled by a vote during the June 9, 2022 board meeting after residents came out to protest the inclusion of several design elements, including steel louvers and planter pockets that would have blocked views of the lake.

Issues with the beach rebuild began with a land swap agreement between billionaire resident Justin Ishbia and the Park District in October 2020 that would trade the land Ishbia owns in between the two beaches at 261 Sheridan Road with a chunk of land from Centennial that abuts his other property at 205 Sheridan Road. The deeds have yet to be swapped even with the Park District attempting to finalize the deal multiple times.

Along with concerns about impacted views, some residents have stated they don’t believe the Park District should be in the business of giving public land to private citizens. A lawsuit by resident Robert Schriesheim which halted Park District plans for a time was dismissed earlier this month. Paul Gaynor, a lawyer for Schriesheim, has stated they plan to refile on one count outlined in the suit which claims the land swap is in violation of the Public Trust Doctrine. This count states that the land under the lake is the property of residents and is held in trust for the residents by the government.

“All three counts were dismissed. By conventional thinking, that means we’ve won so far,” Park District Board Counsel Adam Simon said. “The plaintiffs would have to show the Park District acted arbitrarily and unreasonably.”

Commissioners Colleen Root and Cynthia Rapp, who both voted to pull the initial permits, voted against submitting new permits. Rapp wanted to have the resolution allowing the resubmittal changed to ensure the Park Board would see permits before submission, but Commissioner Warren James said because the permits are based off recent drawings that isn’t necessary.

“It’s not typically the province of the board to opine on the permit plans,” James said. “The schematic design reflects the design intent and we know from prior experience that the first review will be a review of sufficiency and then it will come to a 30-day public comment period.”

James pointed to the concerns of some residents about Elder Beach having been closed for several years due to unsafe conditions as reason to move forward quickly with the plans.

The Park District also pointed to results of the recent Winnetka Caucus survey to say residents approved of the project. Nearly 44% of residents responded they would like to see the Park District do what is needed to repair and preserve the beaches while 15% said they had concerns about the plan. When asked what they thought of the Park District selling real estate, 39% said it should only be sold to other municipal entities, 27% said they would only like to see green space acquired and not sold and 22% said under no circumstances should the Park District sell land.

Former Park District Commissioner David Seaman spoke at the meeting concerning the caucus survey and pointed out 25% of the respondents were between 25 and 44 years old, a group he said is much more represented now than in the previous five years.

“I think it’s fair to say that this does represent the current views of the broader community, not the same group that shows up every night or every meeting,” Seaman said. “In June 2022, I voted along with Commissioners Root and Rapp to withdraw the permit for work at Elder/Centennial. It’s now been 16 months since that vote. Sixteen months of listening and gathering valuable feedback from the broader community.”

Root was concerned about how the resolution put forward would interact with previous resolutions made by the board, saying she worries about ambiguity and wished the previous permit submittal resolution were restated. Simon said the resolution allows staff to create the permit drawings based on the schematics and bring them to the board for consideration.

“They don’t have discretion to change the design,” Simon said. “The goal is to move up to the next level of engineering, the next level of specificity but they should, in all respects, represent the schematic drawings that are being presented tonight for consideration.”

Katie Stevens, a resident who has fought the beach project since the start, told the board she has never been more disappointed. She went on to compare the various portions of the project to the gifts in the “12 Days of Christmas” carol.

“We are giving away more rocks on the beach than we are getting a beach. I don’t want to go up and over four rock walls where there are none,” she said. “We want a project which protects us, the public, not land owners.”

Former Park District Board Commissioner Susie Schreiber urged the board to give residents more time to look over the schematics which were released along with the meeting agenda packet two days before the meeting.

“When you’re trying to regain the respect of the general public, rushing is not the right way to go,” she said.