Greetings, all!

• FHWA continues push to move OPC/road changes forward
• USACE “public” notice yields new opportunity for public comment
  
  

FHWA, USACE push ahead

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has now been joined by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in issuing bureaucratic, misleading, confusing, and arcane documents, all in a seeming effort to move toward approvals of the proposed Obama Presidential Center and its related road changes as soon as possible.

FHWA illegally attempts to skip to mitigation

On April 14 the FHWA informed consulting parties for the Section 106 review that the Assessment of Effects (AOE) report issued in January was now considered final, and that the next step in the process would be “to resolve the identified adverse effect to historic properties.”  However, its announcement pointed only to upcoming “mitigation” discussions, attempting to entirely skip the first and second legally prescribed options for consideration – avoidance and minimization.  JPW is writing to protest this FHWA maneuver.

The FHWA also announced plans to hold three consulting party meetings, beginning in early May.  FHWA proposes to hold the meetings in a webinar format, similar to the January meeting that proved so awkward and unsatisfactory.  Those who participated in that session will recall that it was a lecture-style presentation with little opportunity for questions and no opportunity for actual discussion and dialogue.  JPW is writing also to object to the proposed meeting format, highlighting the unsuitability of the webinar format for genuine consultation, and has proposed alternatives.   

USACE “public” notice

While some predicted that the USACE would have to be involved in approving the OPC given its jurisdiction over federally involved waterways and in particular its leading role in the just completed GLFER environmental restoration project in Jackson Park, it was only in the January AOE report that its role was formally acknowledged.   Now the requirement that it grant key permits to allow the OPC to proceed has come suddenly to the forefront.

On April 1 USACE issued “Public Notice/Application 19-17 Jackson Park” stating that the Chicago Park District has requested permits to destroy and “replace” elements of the recently completed GLFER project and asking for public comment by April 29.  The catch: it is only because a friend of a friend who monitors USACE on Facebook that we and other consulting parties became aware of this notice/request for comments.  It was not sent to us or any other consulting party that we know of; it is not on the prominent Public Notice section of the USACE website; it is not on the City’s website devoted to the federal reviews of the OPC; it is not on the Chicago Park District website – a stealth “public” notice indeed. It can only be found buried deeply on the “Civil Works Projects” list of the USACE website.

Consulting parties to weigh in

We and other consulting parties have taken a thorough look at the USACE notice and have found it wanting in several key ways.  For one, the analysis which is offers is extremely limited and partial.  It proceeds as if the carefully planned GLFER plantings of grasses, shrubs, trees, and other vegetation is a cookie-cutter assemblage that can be picked up and dropped somewhere else without regard to environmental context.  While acknowledging the major changes that the OPC/road changes would make in the immediate area of the GLFER project – on and around Wooded Island, along Lake Shore Drive between 59^th and 62rd streets, on Hayes Drive especially in the vicinity of the Hayes Drive bridge – the USACE notice fails to give any consideration whatsoever to potential adverse impacts of these major changes on the completed GLFER areas.  It does not acknowledge rising lake levels that have occurred since the GLFER plans were drawn up.  It does not address Obama Foundation plans to direct storm water gathered on the OPC site into the west lagoon.  It does not acknowledge the destruction of the carefully planned berms along the west side of South Lake Shore Drive.

You can weigh in too – April 29 deadline

The USACE notice solicits public comments on the proposed modification of the GLFER project to accommodate the OPC and road changes.  We urge you to read the notice, think about the 5-year, $6.9 million GLFER project, and submit your comments on the proposed alterations by April 29.  Addresses — for both regular mail and electronic mail — are provided in the notice.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS!

Thanks to all who have recently offered financial support.  As always, we welcome your contributions.  You can contribute in three ways:

• 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 PayPal here.
• 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 Kevin Winters.  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
Jackson Park Watch
www.jacksonparkwatch.org
jacksonparkwatch@gmail.com

Greetings, all!

We hope you are all safe and well in this unsettling time.  

While the personal and public threat and demands of the coronavirus pandemic are rightly everyone’s primary focus now, there are ongoing actions relating to the OPC proposals for Jackson Park that should not be ignored.  We provide here updates on some recent developments.

First, it is worth mulling over the impact of the pandemic, immediately and for the future, on the proposals for the Park.  A recent article in Crain’s entitled “Can big development plans survive the virus?” addressed the impact of the virus on commercial development plans, such as the 78 and Lincoln Yards.  While the real estate developers remain predictably optimistic at the moment, economic and business analysts conclude that the duration of the downturn is not yet known and the trajectory for overall economic recovery cannot yet be predicted.  In this era of uncertainty and competing demands for resources, projects that are dependent on private donations — such the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) or the golf course merger — are particularly vulnerable.  Likewise, both projects require commitments of public funds that may now have to reevaluated.

Against that backdrop, here is what’s happened in the past month.

Hearing Scheduled for POP Lawsuit

On March 19 the legal team for Protect Our Parks filed its final brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7^th Circuit, arguing that the City and Park District violated their fiduciary duties as public trustees by approving the construction of the OPC in Jackson Park as they did.  They argued additionally that the District Court was mistaken in its refusal to take into consideration the determination of the OPC’s adverse effect on the Park that was first documented in the July 2019 Assessment of Effects (AOE) report as part of the federal Section 106 review of the project. 

The Appeals Court granted POP’s request for an oral argument, as reported in the Hyde Park Herald.   The hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on May 21 at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.  Each side will have 20 minutes to present its case.   At present, it is expected that the hearing will be a regular, in-person, open presentation before a panel of three judges (who will not be known in advance).  It remains to be seen whether public health concerns will cause delay or require a shift to remote, video presentations.

A Side Step in the Section 106 Review

As noted in our last Update, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a “final” AOE in mid-January, giving consulting parties until mid-February to submit further comments.  In those further comments, JPW and numerous other consulting parties raised significant concerns about omissions and inconsistencies in the report’s findings, including those relating to other historic properties in the area.  They also raised strong objections to the report’s continued insistence that the proposal for the OPC itself was beyond the FHWA’s review authority. 

On March 17, as had been requested, the FHWA submitted a detailed report to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) on the FHWA’s responses to the objection letters it had received.  The FHWA report sent to the ACHP first responds in detail to the specific concerns raised by the ACHP.  It then includes the more than 30 statements by consulting parties and individuals and a table of the FHWA’s response to each objection.  Basically, the FHWA issued a uniform refusal to consider the many issues raised, summarily dismissing them all.

The FHWA requested an advisory ruling by the ACHP on one particular question, raised by The Cultural Landscape Foundation, as to whether the Jackson Park Terrace Historic District (the residential complex that lies directly across Stony Island Avenue from the proposed OPC site) would be adversely affected by the OPC.  JPW and other groups submitted statements to ACHP in support of the TCLF challenge.  At the same time, importantly, one consulting party asked for the regulatory basis for the FHWA’s refusal to respond to the voluminous and thoughtful additional comments and questions.

On April 1, the ACHP responded to the FHWA and agreed with its finding of “no adverse effect” by the OPC on the Jackson Park Terrace Historic District.  However, the ACHP also stated that it would be appropriate for the FHWA to acknowledge and facilitate further consultation on the many other questions raised about other historic properties and to clarify whether those concerns may be addressed during the upcoming resolution process of the Section 106 review or better addressed during the NEPA review.  This ACHP response has not yet been posted on the City’s website as of today. 

The next step in the Section 106 review will be for the FHWA to set a schedule and outline a process to consult “with consulting parties to develop and evaluate alternatives or modifications to the undertaking that could avoid, minimize, or mitigate adverse effects on the historic properties.”   When and how that will or can be done in the midst of the pandemic restrictions is unknown.  Whether the FHWA will show any willingness to engage in substantive dialogue and creative dispute resolution is also unknown.

JPW Evolves

As the federal review process has evolved, so has JPW.  This month, Margaret, co-founder and co-president of JPW, has relocated to Ann Arbor MI to be closer to her family, a long-anticipated move.  Given the nature of the foreseeable work and ready access via the internet and phone, she will continue to participate fully in the Section 106 review and the other federal reviews to follow.  To accommodate the new geographic reality, Margaret will assume the position of PW vice-president.  Brenda will continue as JPW’s president and on-the-ground presence, focusing not only on the federal reviews of the OPC and associated road changes, but also on closely related issues such as the proposed expansion and merger of the Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses and the battle to save the Nature Sanctuary at the South Shore Cultural Center.  It goes without saying (but we will) that JPW will continue to be an active participant in the debate on the future of Jackson Park.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS!

Thanks to all who offer financial support.  As always, we welcome your contributions.  You can contribute in three ways:

• 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 PayPal here.
• 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 Kevin Winters.  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
Jackson Park Watch
www.jacksonparkwatch.org
jacksonparkwatch@gmail.com