By Peter von Buol
Special to Inside
Within the next few weeks, the Chicago Park District is scheduled to construct decorative fences to protect newly-planted native vegetation at Montrose Harbor’s bird sanctuary. Installation of the fences and the addition of “no trespassing” signs will allow police to arrest or ticket anyone caught venturing off the path and into the protected vegetation — a place where gay prostitution has flourished. Police will no longer have to catch someone in a sex act in order to arrest them. The fences and signs will enable them to clear the area of illegal trysts in a simple and effective way.
As Inside reported previously, the bird sanctuary, located on the site of a former Cold War missile installation, has become notorious for chronic criminal activity that includes reports of indecent public exposure, prostitution and drug use.
Located just east of Lake Shore Drive at the north end of Montrose Harbor, the sanctuary is popularly known as Magic Hedge because more than 75 percent of the state’s known bird species have been recorded in its vicinity.
Being able to arrest or ticket individuals for trespassing will be a new strategy for police officers fighting criminal activity in the park. “The fences are being installed to control criminal activity and to protect the native plants and animals,” said Gary Yamashiroya, commander of the Town Hall police station. Once the fences are installed, Yamashiroya says his officers will arrest or ticket anyone violating the posted signs by entering the sanctuary's restricted areas. “The fences will be an extra tool in our tool box [as we] will be better equipped to control criminal activity and to protect the park’s plants and animals,” added Yamashiroya.
Without the protective fences and the "no trespassing" signs, it has been difficult for police officers to respond to reports of wrongdoing. In order to make an arrest, police officers must first see a perpetrator committing a criminal act, and presently no one is restricted from walking into the hedges and bushes. Each year, the Chicago Park District has planted shrubs and plants at the sanctuary but unfortunately many of the plants have been unable to survive due to being trampled by heavy foot traffic. Current signage at the sanctuary already forbids dog-walkers or bicycle-riders from entering the restricted area. Bicycles can be walked through on the designated paths or they can be locked up at the sanctuary’s bike rack.
Joe Lill, president of the Chicago Audubon Society, says his organization will be pleased with the fences once they are installed. Many of the plants are favorites of low and ground-nesting migratory birds. During the spring and fall migration seasons, birders spend hours in the park listening to and watching birds among the honeysuckle hedges as they rest and feed in the lakefront bird oasis. “Right now, the [native vegetation preferred by birds] keeps getting trampled by those who leave the paths,” said Lill. Lill said he believes it is not bird watchers who leave the marked paths but those who engage in illegal activities. “Once the fences and signs are put up, the [shrubs and plants] of Magic Hedge will be protected,” he said.
According to Lill, it is important that members of the Chicago Audubon Society and other birding organizations understand the new "no trespassing" signs will apply to everyone. Most birders, he says, understand the new restrictions and the main birding paths will not be fenced off from foot traffic. While an overzealous birder may, on occasion, wander off the path to observe a bird, most damage is caused by those engaged in
criminal activity.
“The people cruising for 'dates' don’t just stand on the designated paths. They go into the shrubbery,” said Lill. “The birding community supports the 'no trespassing' signs and it understands that in order for the law to be effective, it must be enforced equally.” |
