Humanize the Earth!

zoning update

May 10, 2006 at 3:08 pm | In housing, co-ops, Chicago | 1 Comment

This is a follow-up to my previous post about zoning. 

I have not spoken with attorney, Mark Kupiec, since April 19th.  At that time, he told me visited Gerald Garcia in Zoning 6 times and found new objections each time.  He was hoping for a denial “any day now.” 

On May 2^nd we found out from Aggie in Mark’s office that there was an additional objection from the City, relating to existing ceiling height.  Our architect provided a letter stating that the ceiling is sloped and that the average existing height is 6’9.5”. 

On May 9^th, Mr. Garcia said that wasn’t good enough, he needs a section drawing showing the exact height at each point.  Anything less than 6’9” is not legal living space with regards to FAR, which is why this is important.  I spoke with Peter, our architect, today and he’ll put the average on the drawing and send it to Mark.

Illinois passenger trains - great news!

May 8, 2006 at 8:27 pm | In transportation, train | Comments Off

By email today from Rick Harnish of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association:

Late last week, the Illinois Legislature approved its FY2007 budget. It includes the largest expansion of Amtrak service in the State’s history.

Here is what we expect will result from this budget increase:

1) Chicago - Milwaukee: Remains at 7 daily roundtrips.

2) Chicago - Carbondale: Grows from 2 daily roundtrips to 3. Adds a morning northbound and a morning southbound. (100% increase in state-funded service)

3) Chicago - Quincy: Grows from 1 daily roundtrip to 2. Adds a morning westbound and an evening eastbound. (100% increase in state-funded service)

4) Chicago - St. Louis: Grows from 3 daily roundtrips to 5. Adds a morning express train southbound and a more reasonable morning departure out of St. Louis. Also, adds evening trains in both directions. (200% increase in state-funded service)

The target date for start-up is October 2006.