NORTHCENTER NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION...Dear Ald. Pawar, The Northcenter Neighbors Association has...
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NORTHCENTER NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION 773-326-2440 | [email protected] | www.northcenterneighborhood.org PO BOX 180180 CHICAGO, IL 60618 1/6/2017 SUBJECT: 2250-56 W. Irving Park Rd Dear Ald. Pawar, The Northcenter Neighbors Association has reviewed the most recent plans submitted for the redevelopment of the site at 2250-56 W. Irving Park Road currently occupied by Chicago Joe’s. The plans submitted were for a single four-story, mixed-use building with ground-floor commercial space and 11 residential units above. Those plans were for the building now being completed at 3914 N. Damen Ave. Because the two sites have somewhat different dimensions, we assume the proposed building at the Chicago Joe’s site would be similar to but not exactly like the Damen Avenue building. The NNA Committee on Zoning and Land Use voted to support the proposal, but with one important reservation. The vote, however, was not unanimous, and some members expressed concern that too much density is being encouraged along that portion of Irving Park Road. That being said, the committee’s more substantial concern is that the steady addition of more and more condominium units along Irving Park Road is having a negative impact on the mix of businesses along that street. For many years, Irving Park has been the location of a number of restaurants and taverns that serve our community, and those venues have played an important role in connecting neighbor to neighbor. We believe that as mixed-use condominiums replace older buildings there is a risk that the condominium associations, dominated as they will be by owners of residential units, will forbid the ground-floor commercial space in those buildings to be used for restaurants or taverns. That issue is coming into sharp focus at the Irving Park and Oakley intersection where the Windy City Tap recently closed because of a planned redevelopment, and now the same fate awaits Chicago Joe’s. Given that intersection’s proximity to the senior campus with its many residents, as well as the many people who reside on nearby residential streets, we believe the loss of these two businesses will have a substantial impact. Allowing, but not requiring, restaurant or tavern uses at the Chicago Joe’s site would be one way to ameliorate that impact. In some instances, as in the case of the Windy City Tap, no rezoning is required and the community will have no leverage in any decision about the use of commercial space in the new building. On the other hand, rezoning is desired for the Chicago Joe’s site. We
Transcript of NORTHCENTER NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION...Dear Ald. Pawar, The Northcenter Neighbors Association has...
NORTHCENTER NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION 773-326-2440 | [email protected] | www.northcenterneighborhood.org
PO BOX 180180 CHICAGO, IL 60618
1/6/2017 SUBJECT: 2250-56 W. Irving Park Rd Dear Ald. Pawar, The Northcenter Neighbors Association has reviewed the most recent plans submitted for the redevelopment of the site at 2250-56 W. Irving Park Road currently occupied by Chicago Joe’s. The plans submitted were for a single four-story, mixed-use building with ground-floor commercial space and 11 residential units above. Those plans were for the building now being completed at 3914 N. Damen Ave. Because the two sites have somewhat different dimensions, we assume the proposed building at the Chicago Joe’s site would be similar to but not exactly like the Damen Avenue building. The NNA Committee on Zoning and Land Use voted to support the proposal, but with one important reservation. The vote, however, was not unanimous, and some members expressed concern that too much density is being encouraged along that portion of Irving Park Road. That being said, the committee’s more substantial concern is that the steady addition of more and more condominium units along Irving Park Road is having a negative impact on the mix of businesses along that street. For many years, Irving Park has been the location of a number of restaurants and taverns that serve our community, and those venues have played an important role in connecting neighbor to neighbor. We believe that as mixed-use condominiums replace older buildings there is a risk that the condominium associations, dominated as they will be by owners of residential units, will forbid the ground-floor commercial space in those buildings to be used for restaurants or taverns. That issue is coming into sharp focus at the Irving Park and Oakley intersection where the Windy City Tap recently closed because of a planned redevelopment, and now the same fate awaits Chicago Joe’s. Given that intersection’s proximity to the senior campus with its many residents, as well as the many people who reside on nearby residential streets, we believe the loss of these two businesses will have a substantial impact. Allowing, but not requiring, restaurant or tavern uses at the Chicago Joe’s site would be one way to ameliorate that impact. In some instances, as in the case of the Windy City Tap, no rezoning is required and the community will have no leverage in any decision about the use of commercial space in the new building. On the other hand, rezoning is desired for the Chicago Joe’s site. We
NORTHCENTER NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION 773-326-2440 | [email protected] | www.northcenterneighborhood.org
PO BOX 180180 CHICAGO, IL 60618
therefore ask that, as a condition of rezoning, the developer agree to insert into the condominium declaration a stipulation permitting a restaurant or tavern use in the building’s commercial space for at least the next 50 years. In the absence of such stipulation, the NNA does not support the proposed rezoning. Best regards,
Kate Kreinbring President
Mary Jo Nathan Zoning Committee Co-chair
