When?
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
6:30 PM: Doors open
7:00 PM: Meeting Begins

Where?
Athenaeum Theatre
2936 N. Soutport

Agenda

Cook County Assessor – Fritz Kaegi
– making your Property Taxes go down?
Newly elected Assessor Mr. Fritz Kaegi will update the membership on his election promise to make real estate assessments more in line for residential homeowners when compared to the under- assessed high-rise buildings Downtown. The plan would be for the high-end Downtown buildings to pay more real estate taxes than they have been. Will our neighborhood taxes go down? Who knows. But there is the $880 million City Budget short fall… Let’s see what he has to say.

2933-35-37 N. Southport and 2956 N. Lincoln – Developer Plan
The long-time owner of 2933 N. Southport, started buying up neighboring properties and has now toggled together the three properties on Southport north of the alley and 2956 N. Lincoln Ave resulting in an unusually shaped piece of land for development. 2933 N. Southport was formerly the site of The Emerald City Theatre for children. The two Southport properties are two-flat frame rentals. 2935 does not appear occupied. 2956 Lincoln is a three-flat frame with unoccupied comercial at ground level. It is south of Papacitos Mexican Grill. The lots are all non-conforming city lots that are land-locked and are basically connected in the back. These buildings are not in good shape.

Developer Proposal: The lots are all zoned B3-3 with a total of 7,200 square ft. One standard city lot of 25×125 is 3,125 sq.ft. The Developer is proposing a contiguous 4-story, 52ft. high building with twelve 2-bedroom condo units on floors 2-4 and commercial on the ground level on both sides. There will be only 11 parking spaces to make space for trash to be stored on-site. This will be a lot-line to lot-line development. Car access to the enclosed garage will be off the alley. The exterior design consists of black glass, dark gray and silver aluminum panels on the front and concrete block elsewhere.

No zoning change is needed for this Development. However, in order to achieve this plan, the Developer needs rear setback relief (no yards or open space), relief from the 1 unit to 1 parking space requirement (short one space) and “alley access” relief.

Alley access relief is required under the current zoning, no more than 6 cars can access a garage through the alley on a contiguous Development. The Developer is seeking neighborhood approval before they appear at the Zoning Board of Appeals. SLN’s Neighborhood Development & Review Committee (NDRC) does not support the proposal of this specific plan and recommends reducing the total number of Units to 8. In addition, the NDRC recommends that a building design fits into the character of the neighborhood and that a traditional brick and limestone trim would be better.

Nearby Developments:
2964 N. Lincoln is a new high-end brick building that houses The Bloomfield Development Co on the first floor. That building extends from Lincoln to Southport with the garage access off of Southport. 2962 N. Lincoln is a 3-level brick building that is in the process on a total gut rehab. The architect’s Site Plan can be found at the back of the newsletter

This will be a voting issue.

311 System – Modernization
Great News. The City is revamping the 311 system. The City has partnered with the William Everett Group to speak to and listen to residents and businesses about the changes.

Wazwan Supper Club Pop-up Restaurant – 3056 N. Lincoln Ave.
Pop-up is the new thing in the food industry. Wazwan features a Kashmir/Indian cuisine. Most recently, they had a stint in Ukrainian Village. 4.5 star rating on Yelp. They will probably bring some food.

Read more in the newsletter.

I’m not sure how it happened, but it’s October already. The new newsletter is hot off the presses.

Our October meeting is Tuesday, October 15.

ATHENAEUM THEATRE
2936 N. SOUTHPORT
6:30 PM- Member socializing
7:00PM – Meeting begins

Agenda:

• State Rep- Ann Williams
• Cook County Commissioner Bridget Degnen
• Lakeview High School – Principal presentation
• 311 System – Modernization Plan

State Representative – Ann Williams
With a Democrat now in the Governor’s mansion and the legislative grid-lock opened up somewhat, but still no money, Ms. Williams has been busy in Springfield. She may talk on the some of the following topics:
Fair Tax Proposal
Recreational Cannabis
Balanced Budget
Capital Funding for Infrastructure and Schools
Clean and Renewable Energy
Data Privacy and Transparency

Cook County Commissioner – Bridget Degnen
Now with almost a year under her belt, Ms. Degnen has requested to appear before the SLN membership for an update on the Cook County Board operations. Ms. Degnan is currently the Vice Chair on the Rules Committee and the Environment and Sustainability Committee

Lakeview High School
Principal Paul “PJ” Karafiol will update us on the scholastics and activities at our neighborhood school Lakeview High School. Did you know that Lakeview won the CPS City Baseball Championship the last two years?

311 System – Modernization
Great News. The City is revamping the 311 system. The City has partnered with the William Everett Group to speak to and listen to residents and businesses about the changes. They have requested to appear at the October meeting. Bring it on.

At the September meeting…

New President Bob Blitstein welcomed everyone.

Alderman Scott Waguespack talked about the state of the ward and the state of the city. There’s a lot to that, so please check the detailed summary in the newsletter.

There was a vote on the proposal to redevelop the two lots at 1514-18 W. Diversey. The membership voted “no” by 32 to 24. Please check the detailed summary in the newsletter.

Burley School Principal, Ms. Catherine Plocher, updated us on the state of Burley.

We hope to see you all at the October meeting on the 15th. Save time in line and renew your membership now.

Our next meeting is

Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport
6:30 PM – Member socializing
7:00 PM – Meeting begins

Agenda

1. Alderman Scott Waguespack: State of the Ward
2. 1514-1518 W. Diversey new building proposal
3. Burley School Principal on the upcoming school year

Alderman Waguespack: In keeping with a long-time SLN tradition, the sitting Alderman is invited to speak at the SLN September meeting. Alderman Waguespack will be appearing for his 11 th year. What is different about this year? Since being elected, Alderman Waguespack has presented himself as an independent battling Mayor’s Daley and Emmanuel and The Chicago Way of politics. He was normally one of the few casting “No” votes against the machine. The Alderman was the main supporter of now Mayor Lori Lightfoot and has replaced disgraced Alderman Edward Burke as the Chairman of the Finance Committee. So, the roles have been switched. Come out and see what should be an insightful talk.

1514-18 W. Diversey Parkway: This property has two older frame buildings on the back of each lot which are connected by a balcony. As of the newsletter deadline, the final concept has not been received by SLN’s Neighborhood Development & Review Committee (NDRC). The NDRC has rejected a previous proposal for a 6 Unit condominium building. This will be a voting issue. The immediate area will be flyered.

Burley School Principal – Ms. Catherine Plocher: Long-time Burley Principal Catherine Plocher will update us on the upcoming school year, repairs and renovations that took place over the Summer and issues regarding the school’s future capacity.

And in the newsletter….

• A recap of the 2018-2019 SLN season
• Meet Bob Blitstein, the new SLN President
• The summer party
• A walk around the neighborhood
  • Diag closed
  • Construction resumes at the funeral home site
  • More coffee!
  • and more
• CAPS news
• Breakfast House review

Read the September Newsletter