Recent EPIC Membership Vote Results

EPIC Block Club members approved an application for a sidewalk café at St. Andrew’s Pub, 5938 N. Broadway; disapproved the Broadway Bank’s request for four 15-minute parking meters at 5960 N Broadway; approved an application for an incidental consumption on premises liquor license at Abyssinia Restaurant, 5842 N. Broadway, and, with one exception, supported the adoption of an historic district preserving 15 designated single family residences east of Broadway.

Alderman Smith Disapproves Incidental Consumption License

At the recommendation of the EPIC Block Club, 48th Ward Mary Ann Smith disapproved the incidental consumption on premises liquor license sought by the owner of Green Village Restaurant, 5848 N. Broadway. The application also was disapproved by the Planning and Development Committee of the Edgewater Community Council and Edgewater Development Corporation and ECC's board of directors. In casting nay votes, EPIC members cited unacceptable behavior of patrons of the newly opened restaurant, primarily on weekends, and numerous 911 calls for service. The Edgewater Chamber of Commerce approved the license.

Blue Cart Recycling Program Comes to EPIC

At the request of the Departments of Environment and Streets and Sanitation, the EPIC Block Club recruited Blue Cart Recycling program captains for all blocks within EPIC’s jurisdictional boundaries. Fourteen EPIC members now are posting pick-up signs on lawns on Mondays the weeks of Blue Cart collections. Biweekly pick-ups began Jan. 4, 2009, and collections generally are made on Thursdays. It is believed that EPIC is the only neighborhood association in the City of Chicago that has organized its entire jurisdictional area block by block for the environmental friendly Blue Cart Recycling program.

Possible Realignment of CPD 20th/24th District Boundaries

In separate letters to Superintendent of Police Jody Weis, the Edgewater Community Council and the EPIC Block Club strongly recommended that the proposed realignment of the city’s 281 Chicago Police Department beats include the bisected northern and southern boundaries of the CPD’s 24th and 20th Districts on the troubled 1100 block of West Thorndale. At issue are Beats 2433 and 2022. EPIC long has advocated for the realignment of the boundaries of the 20th and 24th Districts that now zig-zag from Sheridan to Thorndale to Broadway to Elmdale to Clark. Statistics – calls for service, incidents of crime and arrests – confirm that the 1100 block of Thorndale has earned its designation as a CPD “hot spot.” It is the target of the Thorndale Action Task Force, an ad hoc committee revitalized in November 2007 and chaired by EPIC member Lynn Pierce.

Please feel free to e-mail the EPIC Block Club with any questions you might have.