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Wicker Bar Owner Vows To Fix Sloping Sidewalk, Windscreen Problems

By Alisa Hauser | December 28, 2016 11:46am
 Wind enclosures in front of restaurants help to block the cold but also reduce sidewalk width, making it challenging for those pushing strollers and using wheelchairs, some critics say.
Wind Enclosures in Front of Restaurants
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WICKER PARK — For patrons of the Chop Shop, the restaurant's canvas vestibule erected outside its front door helps to keep fierce winter winds from blowing on them inside.

But for others, the windscreen, and others like it across the city, is a nuisance that crowds the sidewalk. In particular, such windscreens can pose difficulties for people with disabilities.

The Chop Shop, at 2033 W. North Ave., has a wind enclosure but also a sloped sidewalk left over from the butcher, restaurant and events venue's previous life as an auto body repair garage. The wind protector takes up about a third of the width of the sidewalk, forcing pedestrians to move closer to the sloping curb and cutout created when it was part of the garage's driveway.

Earlier this month, a blind man fell to the ground when his walking stick slipped on an angled stretch of sidewalk as he navigated around the windscreen, according to witness Jeanny Bradfield.

"I know there's a number of wheelchair users and lots of baby strollers getting off balance," said Bradfield, a Wicker Park resident who aired her complaint on the Everyblock neighborhood forum.

While she described the Chop Shop's seasonal vestibule as a "behemoth," she said the size of the wind protector would not be a problem if the sidewalk were flat.

Chop Shop owner Nick Moretti told DNAinfo that he has "all the permits for the vestibule" and that he was under the impression that the city was responsible for fixing the sidewalk slope.

"But if [the city] is saying that I can [level the sidewalk], I can hire someone. We are happy to do that," he said.

"From our perspective, we have done everything according to the book. We are happy to correct the sidewalk if it needs to be corrected," Moretti said.

Susan Hofer, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Transportation, said city ordinance requires that when a driveway is no longer in use, either because the property changed hands or the permit holder has changed the scope of the business, the owner "must restore the driveway back to the sidewalk curb and gutter or they can be cited for an un-permitted, illegal driveway."

The entry to Chop Shop, a former auto body garage, was once a driveway, which was never removed. [Google Maps]

Sloping sidewalks aside, the situation raises issues that can be associated with wind protectors in Chicago.

Businesses with windscreens are required to have a "public way use permit," according to the Dept. of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, which issues the permits. The $400 permits are renewed on an annual basis, according to a city fee structure sheet.

Angel Hawthorne, spokeswoman for the department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, said the permits are issued "after CDOT has reviewed and approved the use based on the code and clearance requirements."

Enforcement of whether the temporary structures are in compliance can occur during regular inspections of businesses or in response to a complaint, Hawthorne said.

Moretti said he has erected a windscreen there every winter since the business opened in October of 2013.

Hawthorne said that business affairs department has issued about 124 permits for wind protectors in the city. 

Marca Bristo, President and CEO of Access Living, a disability advocacy group, said that in addition to obstructing sidewalks, the seasonal vestibules can also present a problem because of their narrow doors.

"Wind protectors not properly designed and installed can pose major obstacles for wheelchair users and some blind pedestrians. This is not only due to sidewalk blockage but more so because the doorways in the temporary wind protector is more narrow than the actual door," Bristo said.

Michael Knapp, a Logan Square resident who uses a wheelchair, described vestibules as "a nightmare" for folks in wheelchairs, more so because of the narrow doors than sidewalk width cut short. 

Lulu Cafe in Logan Square has a wind protector, which Knapp said he manages to get into in order to frequent the restaurant at 2537 N. Kedzie Blvd.

"It stinks getting inside. If i did not love them so much, I wouldn't go," Knapp said.

Hawthorne said that anyone with a concern or complaint about a wind protector that impedes the public way should call 311.