First Ward Candidates Spar Over Pritzker B&B

A proposed bed and breakfast on Evanston’s lakefront has generated a late-race spat between the two aldermanic candidates in the city’s first ward.

Incumbent Judy Fiske recently issued from a partner in the proposed bed and breakfast at 1622 Forest Place. 

Fiske called it “improper” for Tivador to accept the contribution from Dawn Overend, who along with Col. James Pritzker is one of the partners in Patriot Park LLC. The company is in the process of applying for a special use permit to build a bed and breakfast in the historic Tudor home across from Patriot Park.

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“I don’t know what my opponent was thinking,” Fiske said. “It is clearly improper to seek or receive gifts from someone whose pending project will require City Council approval.”

Reached Monday morning, Tivador said he believed there was no impropriety in his acceptance of the campaign contribution. 

“It’s such a ludicrous allegation,” he said. “It’s like throwing up a smokescreen to obfuscate the real issues.”

The bed and breakfast proposed at 1622 Forest Place is one house away from another bed and breakfast at 300 Church Street, also owned by a Pritzker LLC. That bed and breakfast is expected to open this fall, according to an attorney for Pritzker.

The city’s zoning board initially rejected the application for the first bed and breakfast on 300 Church Street, but, in a controversial decision, city council members voted 7-2 in September 2011 to overturn the zoning board’s ruling. Both Ald. Judy Fiske and Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd Ward) voted to uphold the zoning board’s decision.

At the time, Fiske cited resident concerns that a “fragile” residential area on the lakefront could become commercial as one reason why she opposed the proposed bed and breakfast, according to a story in the Evanston Roundtable from September 2012.

The second proposed bed and breakfast, at 1622 Forest Place, has also drawn criticism from some neighbors who are concerned about parking, traffic and noise. Neighbors also say they believe that approval of a second bed and breakfast could set a precedent for further unwanted commercial development along the lakefront.

“I think it’s problematic for you to approve two of these, sandwiching one house in between,” neighbor David Reynolds said at a site plan and appearance review committee meeting for 1622 Forest Place last week. “I’m concerned about property values. I’m concerned about precedent-setting.” 

Tivador, however, said he believed the bed and breakfast was a good example of historic preservation and would likely be a positive economic development that would provide revenue to the city.

As for neighbors’ concerns that the bed and breakfast would cause traffic, noise and other problems, Tivador said he was open to hearing their concerns but did not see evidence that the issues would be as severe as some have suggested.

“We’re talking about a bed and breakfast, not some chain hotel,” he said. “This is intended to be a very intimate, high-end place to stay.”

If elected, Tivador said he would want to gather more information on the proposed bed and breakfast and residents’ concerns, but said he was likely to decide that it as a positive development for the city.

Asked whether he planned to return the contribution, Tivador said he did not. 

“I think that it’s a tactic that is really obfuscating the real issues,” he said. “I’ve looked for every opportunity to talk the issues and have been denied, whether it be the League of Women Voters or the opportunity with [ECTV show] ‘The Reporters.’” 

Tivador and Fiske have appeared together in only one public forum so far, hosted by Northwestern University. Fiske said she was unable to appear at the ECTV forum because she had a major campaign event that same night. She also declined to appear in the League of Women Voters forum, according to Evanston Now. 

The proposal for 1622 Forest Place is set to go before the zoning board of appeals during a public hearing scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 2_, at the Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave. If the zoning board recommends the permit for city council approval, it would go before the aldermen at a future city council meeting, after the April 9 election.