Dog beach fence will go before Village in January; primary Winnetka beach plans not ready to move forward

The Winnetka Park District will have a chance early next year to push one of its ongoing proposals with the village over the fence.

Costa Kutulas, the district’s director of parks and maintenance, told the Park Board during its Thursday, Dec. 18 meeting the district’s pitch to install temporary dog beach fencing at Centennial Beach will go before village officials in late January.

The park district earlier this year submitted an application for a special-use permit that, if approved, would allow the district to erect temporary fencing on a portion of the Sheridan Road beach.

Doing so will allow the district to continue operating the off-leash dog park at Centennial. Park officials have previously stated that the off-leash beach has operated for more than 30 years.

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 after park officials said installing that fencing is necessary for the district to comply with the current Cook County Animal Control Ordinance.

Executive Director Shannon Nazzal said earlier this year that the district had received a call from Cook County Animal Control regarding what Nazzal characterized as “public concerns” about dogs being off leash in an on-leash dog area.

Park commissioners then in March agreed to move forward with temporary fencing at Centennial to alleviate the concerns.

Now, in the board’s last meeting of 2025, park officials are finally starting to see a clearer picture of when their efforts may come to fruition.

Adam Simon, the park district’s counsel, detailed part of the special-use review process that the district will need to go through with the village. The district’s proposal will first start with a Jan. 28 hearing with Winnetka’s Plan Commission.

From there, the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals is set to hear the class on Feb. 9, followed by an analysis from Winnetka’s Design Review Board on Feb. 19.

The proposed fencing, as previously detailed by The Record, consists of two rows of chain-link fencing along the northern and southern boundaries of the dog beach.

The park district’s push to install fencing at Centennial comes as the district also tries to advance its much larger-scale efforts for a series of updates at both Elder Lane and Centennial beaches. Through that process, the district is hoping to determine a permanent solution for the dog park area at Centennial.

“As you are aware, the Park District has submitted a formal Special Use Permit application … which includes plans for a future permanent design,” Kutulas says in a memo to Winnetka’s community development department. “While planning for that long-term solution continues, we are requesting a separate Special Use Permit for the temporary fencing to allow the off-leash dog beach to reopen to the community.”

Commissioners: Beach project not ready for engineer

Citing a need to establish further clarity about their plans for Elder Lane and Centennial parks, Winnetka park commissioners voted to close the current request for proposal process for engineering services at the two beaches.

In doing so, the board simultaneously rejected a proposal from GZA GeoEnvironmental to be the lead engineering firm for the district’s project at the prized lakefront properties.

As previously reported by The Record, the board in late August unanimously approved the district’s ability to seek requests for qualifications for project engineers after disagreements between the park district and Red Barn Design & Engineering could not be resolved.

Red Barn and its founder, Matt Wright, had been working with the park district over the past several years to develop plans to improve the Elder-Centennial beachfront, and those plans have seen multiple iterations over the years, The Record reported.

In late June of this year, the park district, following direction from commissioners, paused the Village of Winnetka’s public review of its plans, which received negative recommendations from two Village commissions. That pause, as detailed at the time, was intended to “revise project designs and address feedback received during the review process,” Kutulas said.

District staff then completed a request for qualifications process for engineering services that resulted in a submission from GZA. Park commissioners during their November meeting opted to table that proposal and bring it back in December for consideration.

Park commissioners on Dec. 18 were united in their feelings that the district is “not ready to really go forward yet.”

“We’re not really sure what we’re going to do,” Commissioner David Seaman said, noting that although the district has furthered conversations with the village, there are still more discussions to come.

The proposal from GZA totaled $393,922 for the scope of their services.

“Four hundred thousand is a lot of money, especially when we don’t know what we’re going to do,” Seaman said.

“I think to drag it out is probably a little disrespectful to GZA; it’s not fair,” he added.

Park Board President Elise Gibson shared similar sentiments, saying that the board should not vote to table the proposal again.

“I just think that from a cost consideration standpoint, and the timing, that we’re not presently aligned to engage them and I agree that I don’t really want to table it again,” she said.

“I would hope that once we gain clarity and maybe get some idea about the expenses … that they might consider submitting when it’s a better time for the district,” she added.

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