WB_011719

6 | January 17, 2019 | The wilmette beacon news
wilmettebeacon.com
Wilmette Village Board
Proposal for parking, garage modifications
at Wilmette residence moves forward
Todd Marver
Freelance Reporter
In its first meeting of
2019, the Wilmette Village
Board unanimously
approved a request for a
parking space in a required
front yard and a variation
to modify a non-conforming
accessory structure
(detached garage) at 611
Forest Ave. at its Tuesday,
Jan. 8 meeting.
The original plan was
for the driveway to be 21
feet, but Village President
Bob Bielinski expressed
concern with a car being
parked right next to the
sidewalk under that plan.
“The negative is you are
now forcing the car that’s
parked in front of it to be
basically right next to the
sidewalk,” he said. “From
my point of view if we
were to do that on every
house that has a driveway
on Forest, I think that’d be
a huge negative.”
After board discussion,
they decided to extend it to
at least 25 feet to the corner
of the porch so a car
won’t have to be parked
right next to the sidewalk.
“If we’re concerned
about the car being parked
right by the sidewalk, why
don’t we leave just a little
bit more of the driveway
From the Village
Employees trained to serve
people with disabilities
A group of almost 50
employees from the Village
of Wilmette and
Wilmette Park District recently
attended a professional
seminar designed to
increase disability awareness
and build comfort and
confidence when interacting
with people who have
a disability. Wilmette held
the first training initiative a
year ago and the Wilmette
Fire Department followed
by incorporating the training
into the fire academy.
This recent joint seminar
is the next step in offering
so they can pull the car
up a little bit farther so it
wouldn’t be forced to be
right by the sidewalk?”
Trustee Julie Wolf said.
Also on the same block,
a request for a fence pier
diameter variation to permit
the reconstruction of
two fence pillars at 620
Forest Ave. was approved
on the consent agenda.
Also approved on the consent
agenda was a special
use request for a small
medical clinic to permit
the operation of an optician’s
office (Big City
Optical) at 1515 Sheridan
Road. The introduction of
an ordinance was also approved
on consent. The
Zoning Ordinance would
be amended by extending
the Village Center Pedestrian
Commercial West
street frontage designation
north along Green Bay
Road to Washington Avenue,
making large medical/
dental clinics a special use
in the Village Center Arterial
street frontage designation
and making large
medical/dental clinics and
vocational education facilities
a special use in the
GC-1 zoning district.
The rest of the items
approved on the consent
agenda include four additional
land use items and
two municipal services
items. The two municipal
services items were the
approval of a one-year
contract at the unit prices
set forth in the proposal
dated Oct. 29, 2018 with
Trees ‘R’ Us of Wauconda
for routine and emergency
tree removal services, and
the approval of a contract
in the amount not to exceed
$108,000 with Badger
Meter of Milwaukee to
furnish new water meters.
The land use items approved
on consent include
a front yard impervious
surface coverage variation
to permit the modification
of an existing legal nonconforming
structure (a
circular driveway) at 435
Lake Avenue. Additionally
approved was a front yard
impervious surface coverage
variation to permit the
construction of a new front
walk on the legal non-conforming
structure at 412
Sunset Drive, a generator
setback variation to permit
the installation of an emergency
stand by generator
at 1140 Michigan Avenue
and an air conditioner setback
variation request to
permit the retention of an
air conditioner unit at 215
9th St.
employees the opportunity
to ask questions, have fun
and interact with JJList.
com Disability Players.
The training was provided
through a grant from
New Trier Township.
From the Village is compiled
by Editor Eric DeGrechie
Police Reports
Drunken Wilmette man allegedly drives
through Gillson Park construction gates
Adrian Russell, 31, of
Wilmette, was arrested
and charged with driving
under the influence
following an incident at
11:12 p.m. Jan. 9 at Gillson
Park in Wilmette.
Wilmette Police discovered
a motorist had driven
through the construction
site gates at the north
entrance of Gillson Park
and embedded his car on
a mound of dirt. Russell,
the intoxicated driver,
was allegedly behind the
wheel of the vehicle and
unconscious. He was
transported to Evanston
Hospital. Russell was issued
citations for driving
a motor vehicle under the
influence of alcohol and
given an I Bond.
WILMETTE
Jan. 10
• A resident reported that
they received an email
from a friend on Jan. 7
asking her to purchase two
iTunes gift cards and provide
her the pin numbers.
On Jan. 8, the victim purchased
$200 in cards and
forwarded the information
only to later learn her
friend’s email had been
hacked.
Jan. 9
• A resident told police
that she discovered several
unauthorized deposits and
withdrawals between Dec.
20 and Jan. 7 from her
Chase Bank account.
• A resident in the 900
block of Central Avenue
reported that between Dec.
21 and Jan. 7 unknown
offender(s) damaged a
gate on the outside garden
during winter break.
KENILWORTH
Jan. 11
• A resident reported
fraudulent bank activity
between Dec. 22-Jan. 8
using the victim’s identity.
No monetary loss to the
victim has been reported at
this time.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Wilmette
Beacon Police Reports
are compiled from official
reports found on file at the
Wilmette and Kenilworth police
headquarters. They are
ordered by the date the incident
was reported. Individuals
named in these reports
are considered innocent of all
charges until proven guilty in
a court of law.
Wilmette Police Department releases
recent holiday enforcement numbers
Submitted by the Wilmette
Police Department
The Wilmette Police
Department conducted
additional traffic enforcement
Dec. 17–Jan. 2,
reminding motorists to
buckle up and not drive
impaired, day or night,
as part of the nationwide
Click It or Ticket/Drive
Sober or Get Pulled Over
enforcement effort. The
Wilmette Police Department
joined other state
and local law enforcement
agencies across Illinois
to reduce highway
deaths by issuing citations
to unbuckled motorists
and arresting impaired
drivers.
During the 10-day mobilization
Wilmette Police
Department issued:
• 7 seat belt citations
• 3 speeding citations
• 7 distracted driving
citations
• 2 misc. offense citations
The annual campaign
may be over in Wilmette,
but that isn’t an excuse
to stop buckling up. Not
wearing your seat belt is a
primary offense, meaning
law enforcement can stop
you and issue a citation
for that alone. All vehicle
occupants, regardless of
seating position, are required
to wear a properly
adjusted seat belt.
“Our officers are out
year-round. If you or
your passengers are
caught not wearing a seat
belt, you will be cited for
the violation,” Wilmette
Police Sgt. David Sweet
said. “If you drive under
the influence of alcohol
or drugs, you will be arrested.”
The Click It or Ticket/
Drive Sober or Get Pulled
Over enforcement effort
is funded with federal
highway safety funds administered
by the Illinois
Department of Transportation.