Another Special Meeting

Dear ENN members,
We have been asked to hold another special meeting regarding the commercial/residential development “Luxury Apartments” at 1301 W. Devon Ave. 

The special meeting will be held: Wednesday, May 20th, 7pm, at 6247 N. Lakewood Ave. (the home of Nancy Schroeder and Larry Ebert).

ENN May 20th Special Meeting Agenda:
1) Patrick Thompson (Manske•Dieckmann•Thompson, 4619 North Broadway), project developer at 1301 W. Devon Ave;
Dan Luna (48th Ward Alderman Chief of Staff)

Patrick Thompson/1301 W. Devon Ave. project developer is requesting an adjustment from the City's zoning department to reduce the rear yard requirement, which is measured as the distrance from the alley between Lakewood and Wayne to the residential buildings on either side. This requires notification to the neighbors immediately to the south as well as the Alderman’s office. They have received letters of approval from both neighbor buildings.   However, Alderman Osterman requested that they meet with the ENN Block Club to describe and clarify their request to confirm they have the ENN support by a block club vote.

 As you may recall, Patrick Thompson first presented the proposed development to ENN at the November 10th, 2014 meeting. Both Patrick Thompson and Dan Luna (48th Ward Alderman Chief of Staff) will both be in attendance.

We also want to let you know that we have been in contact with Alderman Osterman's office to request information on the gunshot/barricade/arrest situation at 6319 N. Lakewood Ave. overnight May 9/10th 2015.   We have also requested current information on the status of the building as we understand that it is in foreclosure.  Initially there was a fair amount of misinformation on the incident.  We now know that it began when people attending a party in the building began to harrass police who were making a traffic stop in front of the building.  Shots were fired somewhere in the back of the building and police mistakenly believed that the shots were fired at them.  The people at the party barricaded themselves in and would not allow the police entry.  It was resolved peacefully some hours later with the arrest of 31 people.  We are attempting to determine the status of those arrested and to confirm whether or not the resident of building who was the intended target of last year's shooting on Devon and Glenwood was involved in the situation.

We will keep you updated on this as soon as we get informaiton. 

An Update from the Alderman

The following is an except from Alderman Osterman's weekly newsletter in case you have not seen it.  They were working with the police and the Law Department last week to collect accurate information and determine what action would be taken.  The "known gang member" is the same person who was was the target when the young man was shot on Devon last summer.  

Last weekend, 31 individuals were arrested at 6319 N. Lakewood Ave. Police were present at the address around 11:20 pm. Friday as they initiated a traffic stop of a van parked in front. Shortly after, officers believed they heard shots coming from the alley. Subjects were observed running from the alley into the apartment building. After observing the individuals, believing they may be involved with the shots fired, officers attempted a follow-up during which the subjects refused to exit an apartment. Believing there was a weapon involved, officers requested SWAT assistance. The standoff ended several hours later. All 31 people involved have been charged with disorderly conduct.

 

One of the suspects in this incident is a known gang member from our area. He is currently in custody as a result of an outstanding warrant for an unrelated charge, and he has an extensive record with numerous arrests and convictions. I have spoken to the assistant state's attorney in charge of this case, and she will be reviewing all possible avenues to prosecute this individual to the fullest extent of the law.

 

The City's Law Department had an ongoing investigation at this location prior to this incident. The department will be filing new charges against this building and its owners on violations of drug and gang housing and building code ordinances. The first hearing related to this matter will be on June 11; we will pass along details as they become available. A full building inspection by the City will coincide with the police investigation. We will provide more information once the ongoing investigation concludes. We welcome neighbors and advocates to join us in court for this hearing.

 

If you have seen or heard anything that can aid the police in their investigation, please contact Area North Detectives at (312) 744-8263 or call my office. We will be following these cases in both criminal and housing court. If you are available for advocacy in either case, please contact Marko Zaric in my office at Marko@48thward.org (mailto:Marko@48thward.org) or 773-784-5277

Unfortunate Excitement on Lakewood

Friends, once again we find one of our neighbors causing trouble.  I am sure there will be more on this, and a statement from the Alderman.  Watch this space.

SWAT TEAMS RESPOND TO INCIDENT ON IN EDGEWATER

Special ENN Meeting on Proposed Commerical-Residential Development on Devon/Magnolia

Tuesday, January 13th, 2015, 7:00pm at 

St. Gert's Ministry Center Chapel, 6214 N. Glenwood

Topic to be discussed:

Community vote of requested zoning change for building on the Southeast corner of Devon/Magnolia from B3-1 to B3-2.  The DASH 2 approval would allow the developer to complete the duplex apartments on the 2^nd & 3^rd floors.

The property has been purchased by developer Scott Whelan and is being developed into 1st floor commercial property and 2nd & 3rd floor apartments. The 3rd floor would be added on (see attached sketches).

Preliminary plans were presented by the developer and 48th Ward Alderman's office Chief of Staff, Dan Luna, at the ENN Meeting on November 10th, 2014. 

The commercial property has not yet been determined. The developer welcomes ENN's feedback and is looking forward to making a positive addition to Devon Avenue.

Save the date for the next meeting: Tuesday, March 10th, 2015, 7pm, location TBD

Edgewater North Neighbors

Granville to Devon, Broadway to Glenwood

Fall ENN Meeting. Y'all Come!

Dear All,

The next ENN Block Club meeting will be held Monday, November 10th, 7pm at St. Gert's Social, 1401 Granville Ave.  (The meeting was originally scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 11th, but since that is Veteran's Day we moved the meeting to Monday).  We hope to see you there!

ENN Nov 10^th, 2014 Agenda:

Guest speaker:  Scott Whelan-- plans for the property on the S/E corner of Magnolia/Devon as well as 1301 W. Devon Ave.

Guest speaker:  Syed Ahmed -- owner of a neighborhood errand service called BringDrop

• Results of campaign to reach out to ENN businesses

• ENN website improvements:  http://edgewaternorthneighbors.blogspot.com

• Devon Ave. planter boxes (1200-1400 south side of street):

        securing funds to help volunteers adopt planters for summer 2015

• Dealing with snow:  information to help deal with neighbors that don't shovel

• neighborhood crime update

• Vedgewater Garden update

• November elections (all positions open)

• Approval of the July 15^th, 2014 meeting minutes

• Any other business 

Save the date for the next meeting: Tuesday, March 10th, 2015, 7pm, location TBD

 

Fall Yard Waste Collection

The Department of Streets and Sanitation is coordinating dedicated bagged leaf collection for the first three weeks of November. Residents can call 3-1-1 to request separate bagged leaf and other yard waste collection from November 3 through November 21. Residents should bag leaves and other yard waste separately from garbage in the black carts and recycling in the blue carts and leave the bags in the alley or at the curb for collection. A Streets and Sanitation truck will collect the bags based on 3-1-1 requests and take the yard waste to be composted. Any bag will do for yard waste collection, but brown paper bags are preferred. Residents must call 3-1-1 to request yard waste collection.

About Edgewater North Neighbors

Do you know what ENN is all about?  From our by-laws...

"Edgewater North Neighbors (ENN) is a community based association in the city of Chicago of neighbors residing in the area bounded by Devon Avenue on the South, Granville to the North, Broadway to the East and Glenwood on the West.

ENN’s mission is committed to the betterment of the residents within the boundary area and the community of Edgewater.  ENN is designed in such a way to address the problems of urban life, and carry out the activities that nurture a positive neighborhood spirit.

Chicago neighborhood associations make many of the decisions that affect development in the community.  ENN holds regular public meetings and makes printed agendas available beforehand.  All residents of the community are encouraged to attend.

We welcome the opportunity to hear from you.  Please let us know what more we can do to improve our community, make our neighborhood safer, or if you have questions or concerns you would like addressed."