PedwayPictures

Richard F. Ward

155 Harbor Drive, 5101

Chicago, Illinois 60601

Email: wardfam@idt.net

Home & Fax: 312, 938-0884

December 18, 1999

Alderman Burton F. Natarus

Alderman, 42nd Ward

Room 306, City Hall

121 N. LaSalle Street

Chicago, Illinois 60602-1202

Dear Alderman Natarus,

For the last 30 years since Planned Development #70 was approved by the City Council in 1969, the residents at Outer Drive East have waited patiently for the "Major Pedestrian Walkway". As the other 4 buildings (155, 175, 195 Harbor and 360 Randolph) were built, new residents joined the patient 400 E. Randolph folks and trudged through the snow in brisk winter winds. The legal requirement of the applicant Illinois Central Railroad Company was:

For the purposes of this Planned Development, the "Major Pedestrian Walkway" shall consist of an enclosed all-weather walkway, having a minimum unobstructed vertical clearance of 9 feet and a width of 40 feet, designed to accommodate uninterrupted pedestrian accessibility at the Arcade Level as described on the Generalized Staging Plan for Capital Improvements herewith attached. It shall be the responsibility of the applicant to provide continuous major pedestrian walkways at Arcade Level as referred to herein, subject to the review of the Department of Public Works and approval of the Department of Development and Planning.

After 10 years of walking in the rain and cold winter winds, our residents were promised again by the City Council on Journal page 9684 (March 1, 1979):

For the purpose of this Planned Development, the "Major Pedestrian Walkway" shall consist of an enclosed all-weather walkway, having a minimum unobstructed vertical clearance of 9 feet (or lower as required by street conditions) and a width of 40 feet or 25 feet, designed to accommodate pedestrian accessibility at the Arcade Level as described and shown on the Pedestrian Walkway System plan herewith attached. It shall be the responsibility of the applicant to provide continuous major pedestrian walkways at Arcade Level as referred to herein, subject to the review of the Department of Public Works and approval by the Department of Planning, City and Community Development.

An early red flag was raised by Phil Levin (Chicago Zoning) in his September 13, 1985 review of the proposed 175 and 195 Harbor buildings:

Finally, provisions for the pedestrian walkway network are extremely vague. The first submittal had the main east/west pedestrian movement located through the development. This latest submittal (dated Aug. 30, 1985) has apparently shifted this movement to the undeveloped properties to the north. It is not clear how Harbor Point or Outer Drive East will hook-up to this walkway system. The size and configuration of the system should be very important to the City since this location is where the primary concourse linkage to the lakefront under Lake Shore Drive will occur

By 1993, after 24 years, the original residents had gotten a little older and were wondering if the City and the developer would ever keep their promises. It had become a little harder, but the retired folks could stay indoors on those cold winter days, although those that were still working continued to trudge through the snow and rain and hoped for relief. However, during the winter of 1993, the developer was quietly working to reduce their long-standing obligations and maneuvered a change through the Committee on Zoning that was published in the Journal of the Proceedings on February 10, 1993, buried in 250 pages (28705 through 28955). On March 8, 1993, the Journal reported on page 29925 that all 46 aldermen voted (certainly unintentionally) to eliminate the 24 year-old covered walkway obligation to the thousands of unsuspecting residents in the 5 buildings at the southeast corner of the Planned Development #70. The developer must have been pleased to shed a several million-dollar obligation.

It has now been 30 years and another winter is upon us. Please help to restore the developer's original covered walkway requirement. The City Council should act before the new developer closes on the property so that the current developer can be held responsible by a lower negotiated sale price.

Sincerely,

Richard F. Ward

Cc: New Eastside Association of Residents (NEAR)

Grant Park Advisory Council (GPAC)

Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Benet Haller

Magellan Corporation

Richard F. Ward

155 Harbor Drive, 5101

Chicago, Illinois 60601

Email: wardfam@idt.net

Home & Fax: 312, 938-0884

December 30, 1999

Burton F. Natarus

Alderman, 42nd Ward

City Hall, Room 306

Chicago, Illinois 60602-1202

Dear Alderman Natarus,

This is a follow-up to my letter of December 18, 1999 regarding the apparent elimination of the PD#70 requirement for access to the continuous enclosed all-weather walkway for the 5 existing residential buildings in the southeast corner of the development. This additional background information should be useful in your efforts to restore the obscure 1-inch line on Journal page 29954. It is my understanding that any planned development is an agreement or contract between the municipality and property owners. An agent or controlling entity must be designated by all of the property owners within the designated area.

On July 29, 1969 this principle was carefully and legally followed when Planned Development #70 was established. All owners (some with only purchase options) designated an agent to "secure a Planned Development zoning ordinance of the City of Chicago covering the entire area of property known as the Randolph Terminal Properties Area" (Journal page 9676) These owners included: Illinois Central Railroad Company, Prudential Insurance Company of America, Illinois Center Corporation, Metropolitan Structures, Inc., Interstate Investments, Inc., Jupiter Corporation, Randolph-Outer Drive East Venture Partnership, and Standard Oil Company of Indiana.

On March 1, 1979, all owners of the entire planned development area were not consulted and did not approve the contract amendment with the City of Chicago.

In 1969, it was legally important to include all parties such as Outer Drive East, which had already been developed, in the establishment of the PD #70. But in 1979, only the approvals of the undeveloped owners were obtained. Neither the City of Chicago nor the developer recognized the rights of the remaining owners to participate in amendment decisions that affected the interests of the entire planned development. The owners of Outer Drive East that was built in 1961 were required to approve the agent that applied for the original Planned Development #70 in 1969, but 10 years later they were not required to approve the 1979 amendment that certainly affected them. And by then Harbor Point had been built (1974) and they too, were not consulted in approving the amendment. This was an oversight by the agent that was seeking amendments from the city to the "entire area of undeveloped property as delineated herein". The legal description outlining the original PD #70 did not change, but a new term "Sub-area" was introduced that apparently was designed to exclude completed areas from participating in the decision process of the entire planned development. And incidentally, the required enclosed all-weather walkway is clearly delineated in both the text and illustrations for the entire development (including Outer Drive East and Harbor Point) in 1969 and 1979.

On March 8, 1993, some powers and rights of all owners were recognized in the PD #70 Amendment: "2. All necessary official reviews, approvals or permits are required to be obtained by the Applicant as to Subarea E and by the respective owners of the property to Subareas A, B, C and D" (Journal page 29927). However, the amendment also improperly eliminated the right and requirement for our citizens to have direct access to the continuous covered walkway system from the 5 existing buildings in the southeast corner of the Planned Development #70.

These changes were made when Alderman Ted Mazola represented our area and in my previous letter, I have requested your help to restore access to the excluded 5 buildings. The existing PEDWAY is less than 150 feet from the first of the 5 buildings and it would be a shame to deny direct access to thousands of our citizens. It would be appreciated if by City Council resolution, the 1-inch line was restored on Journal page 29954. By a copy of this letter to Mr. Carlins, I am suggesting a discussion of this deferred obligation with the Whitman Corporation before their closing on the property to determine if a sales price adjustment is necessary.

Sincerely,

Richard F. Ward

Cc: Mr. Joel Carlins, Magellan Development Group

New Eastside Association of Residents (NEAR)

Grant Park Advisory Council (GPAC)

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP

Covered Walkway (PEDWAY)....The other primary focus has been the legal requirement accepted by the developer when Chicago approved Planned Development #70 in 1969. The obligation was reaffirmed in 1979. However, when our 5 residential buildings in the southeast corner were completed, the previous developer apparently wanted to shed his financial responsibility to provide direct access to the "covered walkway" from all buildings. Chicago cooperated by eliminating the requirement in 1993, without getting the approval of all PD#70 owners or their associations that would be affected. Fortunately the 400 East Randolph Association had the foresight to negotiate a private agreement with the previous developer that Magellan must honor. Whenever a building is to be built north of the Outer Drive East property, ODE can designate their Pedway access location. Hopefully it will also be adjacent to the 155-175-195 Harbor buildings, so these three buildings can regain what they lost by the 1993 Chicago decision - a secure private access that will only allow the residents into their own building.