“Local activists are pushing for a question to be added to this June’s election so residents can give more input on preserving trees that could be cleared to make way for a Tiger Woods-led proposal to overhaul two golf courses.
“The Save Jackson Park group and other organizers filed a petition with the Chicago Board of Elections to place a question on June 28 ballots: ‘Shall the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District stop cutting down trees in Jackson Park and preserve the trees in South Shore Cultural Center Park?’
“Voters in the 14th, 19th and 37th precincts of the 5th Ward can vote on the question if it is added to the ballot. The result would not be binding, but it could be used to gauge residents’ concerns about the trees.
“The referendum would give residents ‘a voice in the planning process for these parks,’ Marc Lipinski, Southsiders for Trees organizer, said after filing the petition at the Cook County building March 21.
“‘Our issue here is that the residents have never gotten a voice into what is the future of Jackson Park and South Shore Cultural Center Park,’ Lipinski said.
“Other activists have circulated a document claiming to show the golf course proposal could remove more than 60 percent of trees from Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses and the South Shore Nature Sanctuary.
“More than 2,100 trees would be removed of the 3,352 trees on the Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses and the South Shore Nature Sanctuary, according to the document” (Evans, Block Club Chicago, 3/30/22)