Update - Posted July 5, 2005
On Tuesday, 6/28, SCA directors Hammer, Biebel, Ginocchio, and Leggett met with Alderman Laurino, the new 17th District commander Dulay, and Chicago Police Department Sergeant Dillon to discuss the Sauganash Restaurant and other issues. Sauganash Restaurant Update: The restaurant continues to be monitored by the police department and by nearby residents for noise and nuisance issues, and a great improvement has been noted. The restaurant has ceased its banquet business, and has deleted any banquet references from its signage. The physical appearance of the overall property needs improvement, and the hair salon tenant on Keating has made significant improvements already; it is hoped the restaurant owner will do the same. Residents and patrons of the restaurant are encouraged to mention to the restaurant operators the need to improve their part of the property. Contacts are being established with the owner of the overall property to do his share of the improvement. Pressure washing of the sidewalk is being explored, as well as participation in the City's facade and sidewalk replacement programs. The restaurant received several citations in connection with the recent altercation in the parking lot across the street. The charges regarding banquet customers dispensing and selling liquor have been referred to the City's Liquor Commission where a future hearing will be held. SCA and the Alderman's office will be monitoring the outcome. Sauganash Banquet Hall Shooting - Posted May 10, 2005 There has been a serious incident the weekend of May 6. This incident was a result of a party held at the Sauganash Restaurant rental hall. In short, gang members were at the party, a fight ensued, shots were fired. No one from the community was injured. No arrests were made. The Chicago Police issued the owner three citations for: (1) serving alcohol without a license,
(2) serving alcohol to minors and
(3) failure to call police.
A comprehensive police investigation is in progress. Our community will not stand for this. As a result, Joan Biebel (our outgoing president) met with Alderman Laurino, Commander Christian, Dennis Hammer (our incoming president), Susan Kelsey (Sauganash Chamber of Commerce Executive Director), Tony LaPash and the owners of the Sauganash restaurant. As a result of the meeting, the owners of the Sauganash restaurant have agreed to close their rental hall and open up the premises to city inspectors and strict on-premises police inspection and enforcement. Further, a Special Incident Committee has been formed within our Association to report on the status of the action plan and make recommendations. This was discussed at the open meeting on Tuesday, May 10th, where the restaurant owners spoke stating they would no longer rent the hall and apologized. Also, Alderman Laurino stated there were numerous city inspectors dispatched to the premises to ensure compliance with the City code. Shown below is a reprint of what we sent out to our members:
Sauganash Restaurant Banquet Hall Shooting
AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR COMMUNITY
My husband, John, and I have owned and operated the Sauganash Restaurant in this community for over 14 years. Our own children and other family members work here as well. We have always thought of the restaurant as your restaurant and a vital part of our community. We recognize and cherish the value of our community customers above all else. Both the business community and the family community frequent our restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Many of them hold meetings here and many of our children recognize this as a safe place to come without their parents.
We will continue to operate the restaurant as your restaurant and will work with everyone to insure that our neighborhood remains the safe, viable and family-oriented community that it has been for many years. Please bring us any concerns that we may help you with. Whether it is within the restaurant or in the community area in general, we pledge to continue to be good neighbors and valued members of the Sauganash community.
Thank you for your continued support and patronage, Lucy Liakos of Sauganash Restaurant, 4732 W.Peterson Ave. _________________________________________________
Reprinted from the Sounds (written by Arlene Zoeller): What, a shooting in Sauganash? How could this happen in our neighborhood? On the weekend of May 6, Sauganash Restaurant rented their banquet hall to gang members, known as the Latin Kings. According to the police, the gang members have tear drop tattoos to symbolize their membership in the Latin Kings. Around midnight or shortly there after, a fight broke out.
Unfortunately, the fight turned out for the worse. It moved into the middle of Peterson Avenue and into the parking lot of LaSalle Bank, which is located directly across the street from Sauganash Restaurant Banquet Hall, and four shots were fired.
When I ran into Maureen Barone on the morning of May 7, she said that she was coming home from Great America on May 6 with the Gleason family; the Gleason's exited the expressway and were confronted with the entire event right before their eyes. Not a pretty picture, I would think, and especially when you have your car full with children.
Local residents on Keating Avenue were basically watching a movie in full action. The sad part of the above statement is that the 'movie' was real. Residents were calling 911 like crazy; in addition, they called their neighbors to alert them to get to safety. According to Dan Ranahan, a local resident, this is not the first time this has happened. In the past, Ranahan, as well as many other concerned community residents, have asked the owners to please keep the music lower, to clean up the parking lot of LaSalle Bank after parties, and to have rental hall persons use the main entrance to the restaurant. On one occasion, after his children awoke from the loud music played across the street in the banquet hall, Ranahan walked over to Sauganash Restaurant to ask the owners to please have the music lowered. Unfortunately, according to Ranahan, this did not seem to bother the owners at all.
The Chicago Police issued the Sauganash Restaurant owner three citations for serving alcohol without a license, serving alcohol to minors and failure to call police. At the recent Sauganash Community Association meeting, held on May 10, the shooting was discussed and the owners of Sauganash Restaurant were in attendance; they agreed to close the banquet hall. __________________________________________________________________________ A resident that lives around Peterson & Keating distributed the following letter:
NOTICE ABOUT SALE OF 5938 N KEATING HOME
Mrs. Pretzel's home at 5938 has been sold (unknown if closing has occurred) to Imperial Realty Company, the commercial building owner with properties on the SE and NW comers of Peterson and Cicero. We have information that this buyer plans on dividing the yard at 5938 N Keating in half to put in a drive up teller for LaSalle bank, a tenant of Imperial Realty commercial building on SE Peterson and Cicero. Also under consideration is condemnation of the alley behind 5938 N Keating. The zoning at 5938 N Keating was residential and the buyer will have to file for a special use permit from the city through the alderman's office to
effect this change. This will affect your property value as well as the increased traffic and noise to drive up tellers through the yard at 5938 N Keating. I encourage you to organize a meeting of homeowners on the 5900 block of Keating and anyone affected to prevent 5938 N Keating and the neighborhood from this catastrophe. Mrs. Pretzel for years had refused to sell her home to this buyer and now after her death, he has acquired it. This is Alderman Laurino's response: February 13, 2003 Dear Neighbor: Rumors are spreading around Sauganash regarding the sale of the property at 5938 North Keating. Let's separate fact from fiction. Fact: The building was sold to Imperial Realty. Fiction: The owner is planning on dividing the yard in half to put in a drive up teller. I spoke to the owner of Imperial and he has no intention of putting of drive-thru bank facility at this location. The fact of the matter is that, before this building could become a commercial property, the owners would have to get the zoning changed. Again, this requires passage by the City Council. I will not introduce or support a zoning change. In addition, if the owners want to put in a drive-thru facility, they would have to apply for a special use permit with the Zoning Board of Appeals. Should the owner request a special use permit, I will not support the request. For both a rezoning and a special use permit, the applicant must notify by certified mail neighboring property owners. Rest assured that I will not support any zoning changes or special use permits for a bank facility at this location. Sincerely, Margaret Laurino A resident that lives around Peterson & Keating distributed a letter in response to issues in that area that area that are of concern to them. Below is an excerpt:We are writing to you regarding several issues of concern to the residents of the 5900 block of North Keating Avenue. Over the last several months we have been attending our neighborhood CAPS meetings and meeting with Alderman Margaret Laurino to address some of these concerns. At this time we would like to enlist the support of our Community Association in an effort to resolve the following issues: - Left turn restriction from westbound Peterson onto southbound Keating
Keating is the only street east of Kolmar Avenue that does not have a left turn restriction from westbound Peterson. During the morning and evening rush hours, traffic on westbound Peterson Avenue backs up for several blocks. Cars take advantage of the
opportunity to turn left onto southbound Keating to avoid the light at Peterson and Cicero. Unfortunately, they drive down Keating at a speed more appropriate to Cicero Avenue, often not stopping at the stop sign at Keating and Caldwell. There are twelve children living in the 5900 block of Keating, to whom this traffic presents a clear and present danger. We request that left turns from westbound Peterson Avenue to southbound Keating Avenue be restricted at all times. Speed bumps on Keating would
also serve to slow down traffic.
- Close alley entrance to LaSalle Bank parking lot from Keating Avenue
A significant amount of traffic enters and exits from the Imperial Realty properties parking lot via the alley entrance on Keating Avenue. This is in spite of the fact that there are five other parking lot entrances for these buildings (two on Peterson, two on Cicero, and one on Caldwell). This greatly increases the traffic on our street and limits our ability to 'buffer' our residential neighborhood from these two buildings.
In addition, over the last couple of years there has been an ongoing problem with drug dealing on our block. Many times this takes place right on the street in front of our homes, while other times it occurs in the bank parking lot. We have brought this to the attention of our CAPS beat patrol and they have made some significant busts as a result; however, it continues to be an ongoing struggle. The alley entrance from Keating Avenue into the LaSalle Bank parking lot is often used as an 'escape route' for dealers after the drug drop has been made. Once in the parking lot they have the alternative of turning onto Peterson Avenue, Cicero Avenue, or Caldwell Avenue. We believe that closing this alley entrance would reduce the drug dealing problem on our street by restricting the dealers' escape options. - Finally, Imperial Realty has made no effort to beautify their property to better fit into the neighborhood.
Residents on our block take pride in their homes, and these buildings and parking lots significantly detract from the look of our neighborhood. We request that the alley entrance from Keating Avenue into the LaSalle Bank parking lot be closed, and additional parkway trees and shrubs be planted to help block the view of that property.
- Remove parking lot sign facing Keating Avenue
Imperial Realty has posted a sign at the edge of the LaSalle Bank parking lot facing Keating Avenue that explains parking restrictions in their lot. There is already an identical sign posted in the lot facing Peterson Avenue that provides the same
information. This sign facing Keating Avenue is an eyesore, it is unnecessary, and we ask that it be removed.
- Property use concerns at 5938 North Keating
As you know, Imperial Realty purchased the single family home at 5938 North Keating almost a year ago from the estate of Miriam Pretzel. Rumors circulated early on about Imperial Realty's plan to demolish the home and build a drive through banking facility, which Al Klairmont later denied and Alderman Laurino indicated she would not approve. However, a few weeks ago a crew came in and demolished the garage and another small building at the rear of the property, and last week a landscaping crew cut down and removed all trees and vegetation from the back yard. According to a reliable source, they plan to pave over most of the back yard for the purpose of adding parking for the office buildings.
The residents of the 5900 block of North Keating are extremely concerned about what is occurring at this location, and are adamantly opposed to any use of the property in a manner other than what is consistent for a single family home. We ask that the Association and Alderman Laurino take a firm stand on our behalf against any further degradation of this property.
- Use of abandoned alley behind 5938 North Keating
The recent removal of all trees and vegetation from the property at 5938 North Keating (along with some trees from public property along the alley) has removed what little buffer existed between our residential neighborhood and the office buildings & Cicero Avenue to the west. This has adversely impacted our ability to enjoy the privacy of our homes and yards and has undoubtedly affected our property values. Between the office buildings and the residential properties on the west side of Keating Avenue lies an abandoned alley belonging to the city. In an effort to maintain a buffer and block the view of the office buildings and parking lot, we ask that the city plant additional trees in this abandoned public alleyway, and we ask the Association and Alderman Laurino to support that effort.
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2002