Village, park district beachfront conversations get underway following project rejection

Discussions between Winnetka officials and the Winnetka Park District are underway regarding the future of an off-leash dog beach and potential collaboration on lakefront protections.

Winnetka Village President Bob Dearborn, during the Winnetka Village Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, June 16, updated trustees and the community on those conversations, which he said are ongoing.

A meeting between the Village and park district came in the wake of trustees voting 5-1 in May to reject the park district’s plan to add fencing to a decades-old dog beach on Centennial Park Beach.

As previously reported by The Record, in 2025, the Winnetka Park Board approved a plan for a fenced-in off-leash dog beach at Centennial after reportedly receiving feedback from Cook County officials about the beach no longer meeting regulatory guidelines for an off-leash facility.

But as the plans made their way through the Village review process, they were unanimously hit with negative recommendations from the Plan Commission, Design Review Board and Zoning Board of Appeals. The Village Council officially denied the plans with votes over two meetings.

The denial, combined with the negative recommendations the park district received for its beach improvement plans at Centennial Beach, prompted the Park Board in late May to direct its staff and counsel to meet with the Village with the hope of negotiating an intergovernmental agreement to move forward on lakefront protection.

During the Village Council’s June 16 meeting, Dearborn said that he, Village Manager Kristin Kazenas and Village Attorney Peter Friedman met on Monday, June 8, with Park District Executive Director Shannon Nazzal, Park Board President Elise Gibson and Park Board attorney Adam Simon.

At that meeting, he said the Village proposed relocating the dog beach from Centennial to Tower Road Beach, an idea that the district had previously considered.

“The proposal is for early-morning hours — roughly 6-9 a.m. — before the beach opens to the public per our district hours and located on Village-owned beachfront at Tower Road,” Dearborn said. “We emphasize our desire to partner with the park district on this initiative and believe that this is an excellent amenity for dog beach users.”

According to the park district’s website, Tower Road Beach is a swimming beach where recreational activities such as boats, jet skis and paddleboards are not allowed.

Regarding an IGA with the park district, Dearborn said that the Village was “not prepared to discuss in substantive detail the possibility of engaging in discussions around an IGA or memo of understanding of some sort, but respectfully listened to (the district’s) thoughts.”

Since that meeting, Dearborn said he and Gibson have been in contact and that she had asked if he had brought up the IGA with the rest of the Village Council.

“As you all know, I did speak with each of you individually and responded to President Gibson with thoughts to move forward together,” he said to the trustees.

“I wanted to bring the community up to date on the status of this issue,” Dearborn continued. “And I, for one, hope that this can prove to be a solution for off-leash dog activity on the beach, and we look forward to engaging and working with the park district on all of these issues cooperatively and in the best interest of this community.”

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