Central Street Neighbors Association Est. 2007

Northwestern Football season is here!

The season kicks off this Sat., Sept. 5. Mark your calendars and be aware of parking restrictions throughout the neighborhood.  

GO CATS!!!

Sept. 5: Stanford -11 a.m. kickoff
Sept. 12: Eastern Illinois - 3 p.m. kickoff
Sept. 26: Ball State. Special note - 7 p.m. game
Oct. 3: Minnesota - tba
Oct. 17: Iowa 11 a.m. NU Homecoming weekend.
Nov. 7: Penn State - tba
Nov. 14: Purdue - tba. 

Full football schedule here.

            Two months after the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) unanimously recommended that Little Green Tree House be denied a special use permit to operate a day care center at 2812-2814 Central St.—former location of the Great Frame-Up—Evanston city staff is recommending that the full City Council reverse that and grant the special use permit.

            The proposal will appear on the August 17 agenda for the Planning & Development Committee at its 7:15 p.m. meeting in Council chambers at the Morton Civic Center.  If approved by the P&D Committee, it will be introduced for its first reading at the meeting of the full Council later that evening

            When the ZBA recommended denial of the permit, members cited both the lack of adequate on-site parking and concern for traffic congestion in that block of Central St., with the number of children expected to be dropped off and picked up daily and the location of Fire Station No. 5 two doors west of the proposed center.  The city staff memorandum recommending approval of the special use permit states that the day care center is “negotiating” to lease additional parking spaces from a nearby property.  It states nothing about the ZBA’s expressed concern over traffic congestion and the proximity of the fire station.

            Approximately 130 children between ages 6 months and 5 years are expected to be dropped off at the center every weekday between the hours of 7-9am, and picked up between 4-6pm.  City staff’s recommendation calls for five parallel parking spaces on Central Street in front of the building to be designated as a 15-minute “Loading Zone” for that purpose, plus the delivery of daily meals for all the children and diaper service for those in need of it. Neighbors who testified at the ZBA hearing on June 16 suggested that the small number of parking spaces on Central Street would not be adequate for that purpose, without having other vehicles double-parking in front for drop-off or pick-up and creating traffic congestion for other vehicles on Central St. during those hours.

            Ald. Mark Tendam (6th) and neighbors told the ZBA that employees of other businesses already are parking during the day on residential streets adjoining Central St. The day care center expects to employ 28-30 full-time employees and 24 part-time employees, with 20-22 employees per shift.  Although day care center owners told the ZBA they expected “up to 90%” of the employees to commute to work by using public transportation, they disclosed that none of the employees had been hired yet.

(above): Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl, Ald. Jane Grover, and Whole Foods staff break bread, a company tradition, at the grand opening of the new store at 2748 Green Bay Rd.

A crowd of several hundred queued up before 9 AM today, to the accompaniment of speeches, free coffee from a vintage bus, and a rock band, for the grand opening of the newest Whole Foods grocery. While some were no doubt drawn by the offer of gift cards and free samples, the store, for many others, helps fill a void left when the Dominick's chain shuttered its longstanding store on the same location at 2748 N. Green Bay Rd. two years ago. That closing benefited the Jewel in Wilmette just under a half-mile north, but left the community, albeit served by some nice small stores such as Foodstuffs or Fresh Foods, without a single large full-service grocery in Evanston north of Emerson.

The newest Whole Foods is a stunning state-of-the-art store that will no doubt attract shoppers from a wide area. Larger than the chain's other two Evanston stores (on Chicago Avenue) combined, the Green Bay store not only showcases the familiar Whole Foods offerings of organic and natural foods and household items, but features a wine bar (above), and a cafe that doubles as a taproom featuring a large selection of craft beers. City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz believes that the Evanston store, said by some to have cost $5 million to construct, incorporated virtually every possible bell and whistle featured anywhere in the Whole Foods family.

CSNA is pleased to again present Evanston's own Chainsaw Dupont with his Delta Crush Blues guitar and his Blues Warriors band for our July 4th, 2015 parade entry.

This will be our fourth year featuring Chainsaw. You can join us at parade position #31 marshalling on Central St. between Cowper Ave. and Prospect Ave. just west of Bent Park starting at 12:30 pm. ... or catch us along the parade route after 2:00 pm.

From the City of Evanston Independence Day webpage:

"The award-winning Evanston 4th of July Parade begins at 2 p.m. on Central St. at Central Park Ave. and travels east to Ryan Field. Lawn chairs may be placed along Central St. beginning at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, July 1, in accordance with City ordinance. The 2015 parade theme is 'Tree City - Green City.' "

Find out what's happening at your local golf course!

Read the Canal Shores Golf Course newsletter here.

The Harley Clarke Citizens' Committee will present its final report to to the City Council during the reular City Council meeting on Monday, June 8. The agenda and meeting packet are available on the City Council webpage.The full report is in the packet and runs about 40 pages. The presentationn is a special agenda item. The Council Meeting will be in Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of the Civic Center beginning at the conclusion of committee meetings that begin at 6:45 p.m. (near 7 p.m.)

While the golf season is off to a great start in Evanston, Canal Shores Golf Course is not just about golf.  Recognizing the golf course’s proximity to migratory birds’ flight path, and the opportunity to enhance valuable natural areas and wildlife habitats, Canal Shores has earned a Certificate for Environmental Planning as part of the 

On Monday, May 18 at 7 p.m.. the Harley Clarke Citizens’ Committee will host a workshop to hear from presenters about several options for the future of the property.
 
The workshop is open to all residents and will be held in the Parasol Room on the 4th floor of the Civic Center at 2100 Ridge Avenue.
 
The committee, appointed by the City to look at alternatives for the property once the Evanston Arts Center vacates in June, has been meeting for several months and has identified five options.
 
They include:

1. Renovating the building for City use (TBD).
2. Demolishing the building and redeveloping the site as parkland.
3. Selling the building and allowing it to be renovated for a commercial use, such as a hotel or event space.
4. Selling the building and allowing the site to be redeveloped under R1 (residential) zoning.
5. Selling or gifting the building to an organization that would renovate and preserve it for public cultural and/or educational use.
   

City staff presented a range of proposed options to meet Central St. parking needs in a flurry of short-notice meetings over a 48 hour period this week.  Presentations were made at:

• Transportation & Parking Committee 6:00 PM Wed. 4/22
• Economic Development Committee 7:30 PM Wed. 4/22
• 6th Ward meeting 7:00 PM Thurs. 4/23

Packets documenting the two committee agendas appeared on-line about 24 hours before the committee meetings.  CSNA learned about these items shortly after 1:00 PM Wed. and sent out a notice alerting our mailing list later that afternoon.

Apparently the public was not the only interested party in the dark on these plans.  CSNA also heard that some committee members were unaware of what was being proposed.

Click Read more to get the full report.