Hey LCFPD, Take a Hint From Openlands

Last weekend, the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve had its official grand opening, along the lakefront in Fort Sheridan. 

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The preserve was acquired in 2006 by the nonprofit Openlands organization. After $6 million in fundraising, the group set about restoring the bluff, ravines and lakefront to their natural beauty. On Saturday, the fruits of that labor were on display: new, paved trails along a full mile of lakefront, multiple stairway accesses to the ravine and lakefront, and beautiful, integrated artwork throughout the property.

I live just off the north end of the preserve, and my family frequently walks the ravine and lakefront. Watching Openlands at work has been heartwarming, as what could have simply been a urban blight of a paved ravine has turned into a special place. Now, walkers, dog-lovers, bikers, birders and hikers can enjoy unimpeded access to Lake Michigan, from above, inside and at beach level.

Another space, different story

In the very same subdivision, just a few blocks to the north, lies a different story. The other entity that received a large portion of the Fort Sheridan open space--Lake County Forest Preserve District (LCFPD)--has paid lip service to the promise of the Fort Sheridan preserve, which the district received at no cost a decade ago. One little deed restriction has held up a decade of progress--that "the Property shall be a golf course and recreational open space in perpetuity." There was a golf course here, inherited as-is with the no-cost land, but in 2004, LCFPD shut it down, without a committed replacement plan.

the last seven years have been tied up in much drama over the Fort Sheridan preserve. Early this year, the LCFPD voted to approve the recommendation of a multiyear advisory committee, and issued a request for proposal (RFP) to rebuild a golf course on the site. Most of the LCFPD work in 2011 has been designed to doom this project to failure.

LCFPD has a list of dozens of requirements for construction and operation of the golf course, limitations for the size, type and layout of the golf course, and restrictions on other uses for the property, including a foolish condition that will prevent the site from housing a banquet facility. On top of all that, LCFPD expects bidders to bear the full cost of constructing the course, not just operating it. 

Unsurprisingly, at an August committee meeting, the LCFPD finance committee was told by a consultant from the National Golf Association that the parameters and restrictions on the RFP doom the project to failure. In contrast to the "get it done" attitude displayed by the nonprofit Openlands, the LCFPD seems just fine with an upfront commitment to failure. In reading the LCFPD minutes of the August meeting, not a single commissioner recommended a change in the approach to the RFP process or parameters.

Last week, the Lake Forester ran a letter to the editor from Jim Sloan, a local attorney. Sloan filed a Freedom of Information Act request to find out how much Highland Park, Highwood and Lake Forest residents contribute to the Lake County Forest Preserves' budget. The answer is an astonishing $10 million-plus annually, or $100 million since Lake County Forest Preserves took over the Fort Sheridan land in December, 2001. 

Big revenue, zero investment

Despite a significant percentage of LCFPD's revenue originating from the southeast corner of Lake County, its investment in these towns is almost zero. In the 2011 LCFPD Capital Budget, the only expenditures in the towns of Highland Park or Lake Forest is $100,000 to pave the parking lot at the Prairie Wolf Dog Park. LCFPD operates no other real facilities in Highland Park or Lake Forest--a couple of natural-state parcels.

In short, LCFPD takes in nearly 20 percent of its property tax income from Highland Park and Lake Forest, and spends almost nothing here in return.

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering often appeals to voters with the simple statement, "It's your money." Lake County Forest Preserves Commissioner Anne Bassi has never used that statement in her communication to voters about Fort Sheridan, though. That she and the other commissioners have allowed a tiny, vocal group of birders to convince them that golf is not the right use for the Fort Sheridan parcel, while Openlands has set up a beautiful, perfect birding preserve just a few hundred feet to the south is not only short-sighted, it is dishonorable to the whole county and the Fort Sheridan master plan LCFPD signed more than a decade ago.

It is time for the Lake County Forest Preserve board to stop driving this project into the ground, and come up with a real plan for realizing the vision of Fort Sheridan--golf course, recreational facilities, whatever it may be. LCFPD has plenty of vision for what to do with its $82 million annual budget this year; it just can't seem to see the southeast corner of the county.

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