Park district continues to work with Village on permit for dog-beach fence

In pursuit of a temporary fence for the Centennial Park dog beach, the Winnetka Park Board has given park district staff direction to apply for permits and to potentially redesign the dog beach itself.

At the Park Board’s regular meeting on Thursday, Aug. 28, commissioners unanimously directed staff to apply for a special use permit to the Village of Winnetka for the temporary dog beach fence, and to come up with a revised layout for the dog beach and present it to the board at its September meeting.

As previously reported by The Record, the park district installed a temporary fence at the Centennial dog beach along the northern and southern property lines in the winter of 2023; however, that fence was removed and the project tabled “due to a lack of permitting approval,” park district staff said at the time.

This past March, the Park Board directed staff to put forward new plans for a temporary fence at Centennial, and at the August meeting, Costa Kutulas, director of parks and maintenance for the park district, provided an update on the permitting process.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources have both closed their public comment periods related to the project, and park district staff are currently reviewing those comments and preparing to respond to them, according to Kutulas.

Once all the comments are addressed, Kutulas said the park district will need to wait approximately 60 days for both regulatory agencies to respond with “their findings and overall request for the permits.”

While the state agencies have been responsive to the permit requests, Park Board Attorney Adam Simon said the Village of Winnetka has yet to provide feedback.

“Staff submitted a permit application for temporary fencing on May 15, and we’ve received no formal feedback from the Village,” he said. “We’re not sure if they want us to get a building permit, a lakefront construction permit or a zoning permit.”

To respond to that, Park Board President Elise Gibson said the park district wants to apply for a special use permit for the temporary dog beach fence.

“It may not be something that’s needed, but we would like to start the timing on it now,” she said.

Simon added that the park district would like to pursue all avenues in the hopes of getting the temporary fence installed as soon as possible.

“We don’t want to end up being stuck doing this sequentially and being here in February and not having any permission yet,” he said, adding that the park district may not actually need a special use permit, but “it helps move the clock forward.”

Commissioners unanimously, and without discussion, approved directing the park district to seek a special use permit for the temporary dog fence.

Dog beach could be redesigned

In addition to seeking a special use permit, the Winnetka Park District could end up redesigning the dog beach, in response to feedback received from the Army Corps of Engineers, IDNR and Village representatives.

No redesign is officially in motion; however, Kutulas shared one idea for a potential new layout that he said would “make the fencing less invasive” by not having it go into Lake Michigan.

His idea was to use two existing steel groins at Centennial Beach that currently go into the lake as the foundation for the fence.

“In doing so, that would be a reduction of the existing dog beach that would follow suit to the previous board direction of no greater than 270 feet, no less than 170 feet, by utilizing the southernmost section of Centennial Beach as the dog beach,” Kutulas said.

His idea includes reconfiguring how the beach is entered. Currently, an electronic-entry system gives access to permit holders to use the dog beach. Kutulas’ idea was to move that system down to the beach itself so that residents can still access it, but the system will now be used to only enter the fenced-in dog beach.

In addition, Kutulas proposed an unlocked double-access gate on the north and south side boundaries of the beach.

“This would allow for the inclusion of the fencing on two known obstructions (the steel groins) and a gate system that would allow for containment of the dogs,” he said, adding the fence would be chain-link and not obstruct any views for beachgoers and allow them to see into the dog beach.

Commissioner Colleen Root asked what the rest of Centennial would be used for and if the park district would allow for dogs to leave the fenced in portion.

Gibson responded that, based on feedback from the Village regulatory boards during the Elder and Centennial permitting process, and from comments made to her by Winnetka Village President Bob Dearborn, the park district would not have dogs interacting with people outside of the fenced-in area.

She added that Kutulas’ idea was just a suggestion and that staff will present a more formal proposal in September.

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