Greetings, all!

SAVE THE DATE!! — FEDERAL REVIEWS TO RESUME MONDAY, AUGUST 5.

The City recently announced that the Section 106 review will resume on August 5 after a long hiatus. The August 5 meetings will consider the very important “Assessment of Effects” report (AOE), that has been released today, July 29.  The AOE report is now available on the City’s website in the box for July 29, 2019 under “Key Federal Review Milestones.”  

There will be two meetings on Monday, August 5, both at the University of Chicago Logan Center (915 E. 60^th Street) and both covering the same material:

• From 3 to 5 pm, representatives of the designated Consulting Parties will meet together with staff to allow ample time for questions and discussion.
• From 6 to 8 pm, there will be a public meeting, open to all, in the first-floor theater

We hope that this new format will both allow more meaningful input from Consulting Parties and also a much better opportunity for genuine public input.

We urge you to put this meeting on your calendar and to plan to be there.  This will be the first public meeting related to the Obama Presidential Center since Mayor Lightfoot took office and your participation will send her and her administration an important message about the on-going public interest in this significant undertaking.

What is the “AOE” and why does it matter?

The AOE report is part of the review required by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act to assess the potentially adverse effects (if any) of the proposed Obama Presidential Center and related road changes on historic properties in Jackson Park and the near neighborhoods.  In fact, a key purpose of the Section 106 review is to “seek ways to avoid, minimize or mitigate any adverse effects on historic properties” [36 CFR 800.1(a)].

What is an “adverse effect”?

Technically, an adverse effect occurs when “an undertaking [i.e., the construction of the OPC, the execution of the proposed road changes] may alter, directly or indirectly, any of the characteristics of a historic property that qualify the property for inclusion in the National Register in a manner that would diminish the integrity of the property’s location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, or association” [36 CFR 800.5(a)(1)]. Some examples of adverse effects are altering a property in a way that changes “the character of the property’s use or physical features within the property’s setting that contribute to its historic significance,” or that introduce “visual, atmospheric or audible elements that diminish the integrity of the property’s significant historic features.”  Things that come to mind are, for example, eliminating all Olmsted landscape design features on the OPC site, closing Cornell Drive between 59^th and 63^rd streets, and erecting a twenty-three story building in the park.

What kind of review will occur?

The draft AOE must be reviewed and commented on by the Consulting Parties to the Section 106 process (JPW is one) and by the general public.  These August 5 meetings will be a very important part of this review process.  The City and FHWA must consider all comments, questions, suggestions, and objections raised during these meetings.  There will also be a thirty-day period for written comments, questions, suggestions, and objections starting today, the day the AOE is made public. Written comments should be sent to Abby Monroe at the Department of Planning and Development, Abby.Monroe@cityofchicago.org. The deadline for submission of written comments will be August 30.  These, too, will have to be considered. 

What comes next?

The City and FHWA may (or may not) make changes to the draft AOE in light of the comments they receive.  Following this, there will be meetings between the City and FHWA on the one hand and the Consulting Parties on the other to attempt to reach agreement on “mitigation measures” to avoid, minimize, or lessen any adverse effects on Jackson Park and the near neighborhoods.  The results of the discussions will ultimately be put in the form of a Section 106 Memorandum of Agreement, which the City hopes will be final this fall.

What does JPW anticipate?

Based on the federal review processes to date, JPW is concerned that the draft AOE will understate the adverse effects of the OPC and road changes on Jackson Park and the near neighborhoods.  It is for that reason that we urge all interested parties to come to the public meeting on August 5 to make their views known and/or submit written comments by August 30.  After we have a chance to thoroughly review the AOE, we will send out a further Update identifying areas that we believe warrant particular comment.

COMMUNITY BENEFITS ORDINANCE INTRODUCED

On July 24, Aldermen Jeanette Taylor and Leslie Hairston, responding to strong constituent sentiment,  presented the Obama Center Community Benefits Housing Ordinance to City Council.  The ordinance aims to promote affordable housing and minimize residential displacement in a 2-mile radius of the proposed OPC site in Jackson Park. The ordinance will now go to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate for review and refinement, before being presented to the Council for approval.  Given the rampant property speculation already evident in Woodlawn, it is urgent that the ordinance be adopted quickly and without dilution.

While Mayor Lightfoot, who expressed support for the CBA initiative during her mayoral campaign, has yet to comment on the specifics of the draft ordinance,  Hairston and Taylor note that they have enlisted 38 other aldermen as co-sponsors.  They see this as a model for development-impacted areas around the city and also as the first step in addressing the larger goals of the Obama CBA Initiative, which also include education, employment, sustainability and transportation. There was useful coverage of the ordinance in the Herald,  Sun-Times, and Tribune.

THANKS!

As always, we welcome your contributions.  You can contribute in three ways:

• You can contribute via PayPal here; you can choose to make your donation a monthly one.
• You can contribute via checks made out to Jackson Park Watch sent to directly to Jackson Park Watch, P.O. Box 15302, Chicago 60615. 
• You can contribute via checks from donor-directed funds sent to our fiscal sponsor Friends of the Parks at FOTP, 17 N. State St., Suite 1450, Chicago 60602.  Such checks should be made out to FOTP with a note stating they are intended for Jackson Park Watch. 

As always, we thank you.

Brenda Nelms and Margaret Schmid
Co-presidents, Jackson Park Watch
www.jacksonparkwatch.org
jacksonparkwatch@gmail.com

Greetings, all!

POP FILES FOR APPEAL WITH NEW LEGAL COUNSEL

Protect Our Parks has announced that noted legal scholar Richard Epstein will lead its appeal of the June 11 decision by Judge John R. Blakey to dismiss POP’s lawsuit contesting the siting of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park.   Epstein, an emeritus professor at the University of Chicago who also holds appointments at New York University and the Hoover Institution, had earlier submitted an amicus brief in support of the POP lawsuit.   Chicago lawyer Michael Rachlis, known for his work on land use questions, will serve as co-counsel.

A focus of the appeal will be the failure of the City and Park District to fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities as trustees of a public asset in agreeing to give the Obama Foundation, a private entity, effective control of the Jackson Park site for a period of  99 years and a payment of $10 in a transaction that raises serious questions of insider favoritism and conflicts of interest.   By making that decision without full evaluation of the Jackson Park site or of the costs to Chicago taxpayers and without due consideration of alternatives, the City and Park District did not meet the applicable standards for diligence that is required in such a transaction.  Epstein more fully outlined his argument in an interview with the Hyde Park Herald,

The appeal, submitted to the US Court of Appeals for the 7^th Circuit, will be heard by a panel of three judges.  The schedule for the review has not been set.  We will keep you apprised as information is available.

COMMUNITY BENEFITS ORDINANCE MOVES AHEAD

JPW was one of numerous organizations in the 5^th and 20^th wards invited to a July 10 meeting with Aldermen Leslie Hairston (5^th) and Jeanette Taylor (20^th) to discuss the proposed Community Benefits Ordinance, officially titled the  ”Obama CBA Residential Area Affordable Housing Pilot Ordinance.”  Hairston and Taylor plan to introduce the CBA Ordinance at the July 24 City Council meeting.  The draft ordinance focuses specifically on the issue of affordable housing and proposes  measures to prevent the displacement of current, long-term residents – homeowners and  renters alike – as a result of the impact of the construction of the Obama Presidential Center on the real estate market in an area within a two-mile radius of the OPC.  Most attendees were strongly supportive of the ordinance.  Some suggested ways to strengthen it and others, including the University of Chicago, raised concerns.    While recognizing that they are on a very tight schedule, Aldermen Hairston and Taylor indicated that more such meetings are likely in the near future.

SCHEDULE FOR FEDERAL REVIEWS STILL UNCERTAIN

Readers will remember that the twin federal reviews of the proposed Obama Presidential Center plans for Jackson Park have been on hold since last fall; readers will also remember that these reviews must be completed  before construction can begin.  (For details on the federal review process, see  the JPW web site.) 

While certain federal agencies (the National Park Service and the Federal Highway Administration) have overall responsibility for the Section 106 historical review and the parallel National Environmental Policy Act review, these processes have been managed by the City of Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development and Department of Transportation thus far.  There have been recent reports that the next step in the Section 106 process –  the release of the so-called Assessment of Effects (“AOE”) draft report and related public meetings – will occur before the end of  summer, but no specific date is yet set.  The AOE report would present a draft analysis of adverse impacts of the planned OPC development on historic Jackson Park.  Once the report is released consulting parties and others will have 30 days to scrutinize the draft and  submit commentary, critiques, and proposed revisions.  This presents the consulting parties – including JPW – with the opportunity to argue for changes to the current OPC design that would have less adverse impacts on the existing historic parkland.

We note that Michael Rachlis, who will serve as co-counsel for the Protect Our Parks appeal,  has been and will continue to serve as JPW’s legal counsel with regard to the federal reviews and other technical matters.

We will keep you posted.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

As always, we welcome your contributions.  You can donate in three ways:

• You can contribute via PayPal here.
• You can contribute via checks made out to Jackson Park Watch sent to directly to Jackson Park Watch, P.O. Box 15302, Chicago 60615. 
• You can contribute via checks from donor-directed funds sent to our fiscal sponsor Friends of the Parks at FOTP, 17 N. State St., Suite 1450, Chicago 60602, ATTN fiscal sponsor program manager.  Such checks should be made out to FOTP with a note stating they are intended for Jackson Park Watch. 

As always, we thank you.

Brenda Nelms and Margaret Schmid

Co-presidents, Jackson Park Watch

www.jacksonparkwatch.org

jacksonparkwatch@gmail.com

www.facebook.com/jacksonparkwatch