sariks

  •
    Lake And Elmwood Evanston, IL - Evanston
    Please tell me WHY the city is spending OUR tax dollars to pave the side yard and a driveway leading to it...of the church at Lake and Elmwood so that cars can park there in violation of zoning regulations? They have spent the last four days doing this, including Saturday...jackhammering the driveway to repave it and putting new concrete on the private property of the church. There was NO permit for this parking in the yard in the first place, or for the driveway which was paved several years ago by the church's handyman. Furthermore, it takes away 2-3 parking places in a high trafficked area. And all the while, the alley just west of here remains a dirt road (except the part adjoining the police lot) with potholes that the firetrucks and police cars from the nearby station bounce down when they're trying to get from Lake to Greenwood. OUR tax dollars at work! Paving private property for the church so they can park directly next to their building and make the neighborhood look junky. Where else is this done in Evanston? Nowhere that I have seen. I don't know why WE paid at least $1000 for permits, variances and curb cuts for a garage when we could have just hired a handyman and parked on a concrete pad next to the house. I'm trying to imagine violating the zoning laws by parking in my side yard and then having the city say, "oh well...it's grandfathered in." Can the city repave MY driveway at their expense? At least *I* pay taxes!
    (BTW, the concrete is yet to be poured for the driveway, so MORE work at OUR expense coming up.)
  • 1432 Elmwood Ave. Evanston, IL - Evanston
    The alley that runs north and south between Elmwood Ave. and Maple Ave. (E & W) and Lake St. and Greenwood St. (N & S) is used by the fire department AND the police department, yet when they paved the part of it adjoining the police parking lot, they left the remaining eighty per cent of it as an unpaved dirt road that gets huge potholes each year and is one of the only alleys so close to town that remains unpaved. I was told that the city would assess the property owners $6000 apiece to pave this as IF this were the owners' private domain. It is NOT. Many many people use this alley, including renters in an apartment complex, AND the police and fire departments. This should be paid for with city and/or police and fire dept. funds. (Disclaimer: my property is not on this alley.)