Chicago’s tradition of control by individual aldermen over rezoning requests in their wards has killed plans by Col. Jennifer Pritzker to turn two historic homes in President Obama’s Kenwood neighborhood into bed and breakfasts.
DNAinfo Chicago reports that Pritzker’s bid for the Frank Lloyd Wright mansions were snuffed out Monday night after neighbors made similar arguments to ones that failed to persuade the Evanston City Council to reject Pritzker’s plans for two B&Bs here.
“I’m not going to move forward on a project that does not have the support of the community,” Ald. Will Burns reportedly said at the community meeting.
One speaker at the meeting, Dr. Anita Blanchard, who delivered the president’s two daughters, complained that the B&Bs would bring transients to the single-family neighborhood.
Pritzker is currently renovating two Evanston lakefront properties — at 300 Church St. and 1622 Forest Place for bed and breakfasts.
On Wednesday, Linda Jelinek is to begin the public approval process to turn her nearby home at 1722 Judson Ave. into a bed and breakfast with a meeting before the Site Plan and Appearance Review Committee.