Trustees overturn Zoning Board vote on church’s new cross

A Wilmette religious institution will soon have a new cross to bear thanks to a showing of faith from village trustees.

Wilmette’s Village Board during its Tuesday, March 10 meeting unanimously approved a request from the Winnetka Covenant Church for a zoning variation that will allow the local place of worship to add a six-foot addition to its steeple. Trustees’ blessing overturned the Zoning Board of Appeals’ united denial recommendation.

Stakeholders from Winnetka Covenant Church, at 1200 Hibbard Road near the village’s border with Northfield, pitched increasing the height of the existing steeple 6 feet — from its current 120 feet to 126 — with a new cross atop the building.

The steeple was first installed in 2003 in partnership with the Village, representatives of the church previously told Wilmette officials. The purpose at the time was to provide a discreet cellular tower for multiple carriers to serve the North Shore area, which negatively impacted the church’s plans to initially install a larger cross.

Now more than two decades later, the church wants to “complete its architectural vision.”

“For us, the cross on top of the steeple is a very important part of the symbolism of not only our religion but our denomination,” said Steve Kanda, the chairperson for the Winnetka Covenant Church board, to trustees on Tuesday.

Kanda added that the church board believes in 2003 their representatives also attempted to minimize the overall height of the steeple given that they were already exceeding village limits and required a variance at the time. He noted, however, that the institution’s congregation has since turned over, so exact records of the building process are not accessible.

The current 3-foot cross on the steeple is not visible and looks “architecturally incorrect” Kanda said.

“We would very much like to complete our church and put a modest size cross up there that can actually be seen from the ground up,” he said.

He added that the church will next year be celebrating its centennial anniversary and the larger cross would be a fitting beginning to the milestone year.

While members of the Zoning Board found the church’s case did not meet the necessary standards of review for the variance, trustees felt differently.

“I think that it’s very reasonable to have this cross,” Wilmette Village President Senta Plunkett said.

Trustee Michael Lieber rooted his support in what he described as the sensible nature of the request.

“The small cross right now frankly looks aesthetically unpleasing versus the proposed one,” he said. “The proposed one makes a lot more sense and just looks more fitting size wise.”

Some trustees did note they were troubled by the request perhaps not fully meeting the standards of review but the board ultimately found enough right with the proposal.

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