North Cook News

The Winnetka village council discussed some of the final portions of the Pathway Project.

The council held a public hearing on the matter, which was a request from residents along the old pathway to absorb the land area of the pathway into their respective parcels of land. This issue started all the way back in September of 2021

The village council has spoken multiple times about the possible sale of this village-owned land. They reviewed the history of the path, including when it was closed in 1998. The land owners were all contacted about their interest in participating and paying for the various expenses of reallocating the land and removing the remaining concrete from an old sidewalk.

After determining the level of interest from the abutting neighbors, staff procured two plat documents. There's a plat of vacation which would formally release the property from the public ownership and following recording of the plat a vacation there is a plan of re-subdivision which would formally merge the land with the associated nearby residential owners.

The sidewalk was originally created with the subdivision plans in 1913 but was later closed due to loitering issues.

The deal created by the village and landowners involves a sharing of costs and a continued easement in favor of the village to access the utility lines on the pathway plot. There were no comments made in the public hearing and the council did make the final approval at their November 15 meeting.