We stopped by the 55th annual meeting of the Lake View Citizens’ Council, held Tuesday night at Sidetrack, 3349 N Halsted St. Here’s a brief recap:
Grocery store coming
Construction on a Dominick’s at Wellington and Broadway streets is scheduled to begin in mid to late summer, according to Ald. Tom Tunney (44th). Tunney is one of five aldermen who represent the Lake View community in City Hall.
Housing starts down
Tunney said he’ll continue to focus on preservation and zoning reform. “We’ve actually looked at every parcel in the 44th Ward in terms of what’s there – and what has potential – to make sure there is protection for the community here,” he says. Building permits and housing starts have dropped over the last four years, he said.
Property taxes a priority
LVCC President David Winner said the council will continue to push for property tax reform, especially the seven percent tax cap.
Lake View history expanded, updated
A new version of The Lake View Saga, a book chronicling the neighborhood’s history from the early 19th century, will be available this summer.
Awards
Robbin Burr, executive director of the Center on Halsted, received the Lake View Civic Award for her work serving Chicago’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered communities. The council also gave the nod to New Leash on Life for its efforts in dog rescues.
Ron Huberman, the new CTA chief, was scheduled to speak, but word was he was out with the flu. I didn’t manage to catch a glimpse of the other scheduled speaker, newly elected 32nd Ward alderman Scott Waguespack, but others there did.
The LVCC, composed of 12 branch organizations, works to improve the Lake View community.