For those unfamiliar with current conditions, Patterson Street is currently a through street running one-way east to Clark Street. There is a lane of parking on each side.
The north-south alley in the image below is currently a two-way public alley. It is shown as a one-way public alley with hotel/loading dock access in the image below.
The plan below looks to eliminate at least one full side of resident-only parking, if not all street parking on Patterson to accommodate access to the hotel.
So far, survey responses show that residents and business owners are on board with the restoration of Wrigley Field and development of the surrounding property. They want a hotel - but they don't want it to be 3x taller than the surrounding buildings. They want development of the plaza, but also specific restrictions on allowed signage and noise. There are ongoing concerns about traffic, parking, trash and congestion.
Residents know they bought property next to Wrigley Field and understand what that means, but they argue that the Ricketts family also bought property with specific zoning restrictions and should not be able to throw the municipal code out the window just because they own the cubs. As recently quoted by a number of media outlets, including Ricketts' owned DNAinfo, the Devil's in the Details.
Here are many of the responses when we asked residents & business owners to identify the their top 3 concerns about the changes proposed by the Cubs:
Congestion - Crime - Jumbotron - Parking - Traffic - Trash - Noise and visual pollution with too much marketing/advertising outside Wrigley Field - TOO big of a hotel, with MORE bars, not good - Changes in our Alley and sidewalks - Too many drunken rowdy people - Additional Night Games/Concerts: NO MORE! - Size of the proposed hotel: Too high, bring down to 65-70 feet! - Do not want a Pedestrian Bridge over Clark - Hotel size - Hotel entrance and loading dock locations - Post-game drunkenness in the neighborhood - Trash on the streets and alley ways after a game - Beautification - Crime - Traffic - Trash - Overall neighborhood upkeep - Rowdy teenagers late at night - Police coverage - Timely completion of all projects - Updated stadium - Parking - Hotel/Restaurant - Better facilities for players - Nightgame/Concert income potential for the team - Crowd control - On-field product - Continued support in the community - Traffic - parking - Parking. - Drunkenness/ rowdy crowds - Construction - Parking - Parking Enforcement - Crowd Control - Increased Congestion - Increased Street Closures - Traffic - Crowd management of drunken fans - Police presence - Too much signage - Lack of respect for the rooftop owners and neighbors - More Congestion - More Noise - Mandated use of Remote Lots - Improvements inside the park - Encroachment on Public Way and Quality of Life for Neighbors outside the Park - NO taxpayer money or tax benefits. - Quality of life - Density - height/density precedent for future developers - traffic managers and other city vehicles parked on sidewalks on game days - Keeping Cubs in Wrigley - Keeping property values up - No new taxes - Parking - Night games - Security and police presence - Preservation of Historic Wrigley Field - We need a Hotel - Trash - Crime - Traffic - Feel of community - Traffic - Construction - Trash - Parking - Parking - Reducing the amount of empty storefronts - Safety - Costs passed onto consumer - Traffic - Trash - Obnoxiously behaved fans - Size and design of the hotel - Location of the entrance to the hotel. - Noise Pollution - Light Pollution - Disruption of a very unique community - I don't want Patterson to be a cul-de-sac - I don't want the beer garden or pedestrian bridge - I don't want the hotel - traffic control - neighborhood ""vibe"" and look being preserved - Preserving the charm of Wrigley while updating it - The destruction of a residential neighborhood - more people/traffic (due to new hotel) - street closures - Precedent setting up-zoning concern. - Traffic congestion. - I don’t want Advertising all over outside Wrigley and on the Hotel and Plaza - Hotel size - LED & Neon Signage outside of park - Use of sidewalk space for placement of jumbotron - Height of the hotel - Closing of the streets - Congestion/density - Increased traffic in the evening for night games. - More drunks in the area. - The historical integrity of Wrigley and the neighborhood. - Safety during day and evening games/concerts. - Traffic issues. - Friday late afternoon games - More night games and concerts - Parking - Street congestion - Security - Stadium improvements - Brown lot expansion - Brown lot rezoning - Additional night games - Brown lot expansion - Sale of alcohol outside the stadium - Signage outside of park - No bridge over Clark Street. - Neighborhood Protection - Parking Enforcement - Signage outside of park - Hotel entrance and staging locations - Hotel Height - Congestion - Wrigley Field - Commercial space - Not keeping people in control, ruining property/businesses (i.e., flower pots around outdoor dining) - Traffic - Congestion - More Requested Changes every Year
We all know about the controversy involving bright lights and advertising around Wrigley Field. The Lakeview Citizens Council is concerned the area may look like Times Square - but you can't walk around New York with open bottles of alcohol. Where in the United States can you walk though the streets from entertainment complexes to your hotel, drinking a beer in the glow of neon lights? Only in Las Vegas.... or maybe soon in Wrigleyville?
"Notwithstanding any provision of the Chicago Municipal Code to the contrary, all allowed uses of the Property and Sheffield Avenue (when permitted to be closed as set forth above) may be operated indoors and outdoors. Allowed uses shall not be subject to limitations in the Chicago Municipal Code, if any, regulating noise or prohibiting the playing of live or recorded music. No provision of the Chicago Municipal Code as applied to the Property, including, without limitation, restrictions on open containers and the sale and service of liquor, shall be deemed to prohibit open containers anywhere on the Property or on Sheffield Avenue (when permitted to be closed as set forth above) or to require screening or barriers anywhere on the Property, except at the perimeter of the Property as necessary to prevent the movement of open containers from the Property into the public right-of-way (other than Sheffield Avenue, as stated)."
See p. 73, Zoning Reclassification App No. 17730 at 1060 W Addison St, 3639-3659 N Clark St, 1101 -1103 W Waveland Ave, 3701-3709 N Clifton Ave and 3614-3640 N Clark St
This planned development is sounding more like the adult playgrounds of Las Vegas and less like the family-friendly plaza advertised. Maybe we can look forward to enjoying "movies in the park" and a farmer's market with our friendly Wrigley Field vendors yelling "Beer Here!"