Update! Tue 4/30/08
I'm writing to report on last
night's Ward 2 meeting. It was a bit unusual in that the Cherokee School meeting room, which is usually full
for Ward meetings, contained only 16 people: 8 staff/city council members and 8
Ward 2 residents. The postcards sent by the city--well over a week ago-- to let
us know about the meeting haven't yet managed to make it to our mailboxes.
(Thanks, Neva, for discovering that there was a
meeting and for letting us know by email.)
In a twist on this two-year-old
tale, we learned something new about the South Park Woods. Somehow, somewhere,
someone recently unearthed a Master Plan for South Park. This plan, drawn up in the
mid-nineties, shows the woods as belonging to the park. Thus, if I
understand correctly, the woods were never meant to be on the city's surplus
property list, and thus could not have been sold to the
Barat developer.
Where does that leave us? The
possibility of a road has been out of the picture for a while. The possibility
of sale to the Barat developer now seems to be out of the picture too. The major
task remaining is to educate the Parks Dept. about the quality (and need for
protection) of the South Park Woods. A current wetland survey exists, but I do
not believe that the city has surveyed either the trees or the wildflower
colonies.
At the ward meeting, we asked the
city that such a survey be conducted soon, while spring ephemeral wildflowers
are in bloom and while the ephemeral wetlands are still present. The city will
be augering a utility line under the woods (to connect the sewer system of Barat
to that of the Northmoor neighborhood); we hope that a survey will help them do
this with care.
As long as we have our minds on
environmental matters, we should also be paying attention to the impact on the
ravines of the Barat Woods development. The Chicago Botanic Garden (with help
from several organizations, including the City of Lake Forest, Lake Forest Open
Lands, and the Lake Forest Garden Club) presented an impressive Ravine Symposium
last week (see: http://www.chicagobotanic.org/downloads/symposia/ravine_symposium08.pdf). There
has been some mention of the Barat ravines in public meetings, but perhaps not
enough.
Thanks for your patient reading and
continued support of the South Park Woods!
Good neighbors,
Finally, after many months, the Plan
Commission is slated to take final action on the Barat Woods development. The
meeting is scheduled for 6:30 on Thursday evening, March 13th, at City Hall.
Unfortunately, I will be out of town
and will have to miss this discussion. I hope some folks from our
neighborhood will attend and make sure that the best interests of South
Park Woods are protected.
Cheers,
Kathryn Dohrmann
Wed 4/16/2007
Good neighbors,
As most of you know, the City Council will consider
the Barat re-development at its meeting on Monday, April 16. There will be lots
of discussion--probably intense--on the subject of the Barat chapel. To be sure
that our woods don't get lost in the shuffle, I wrote and sent a two
page letter to the City Council, outlining the general issues surrounding the
woods. I also prepared a booklet with photos of the woods (7MB) so that the Council
members could have a better sense of what is there and why we are worried about
it.
The Plan Commission made some recommendations about
the woods to the City Council. The gist of those recommendations is as
follows: (a) a road through the woods would be undesirable, and (b) the city
should sell the woods to the developer, with the provision that it be protected
under a permanent conservation easement. There are some other recommendations as
well.
Cheers,
Kathy Dohrmann