This page exists to remove guesswork before we ever hand CPD anything. Every step below names the governing authority down to the statute section, the instrument that would formally act, and who should be in the room when we rehearse it. Source: Bongo Beach Parallel-Track Procedural Roadmap, working process memorandum, September 1, 2026.
How to read this
Two different kinds of comparison live on this page, on purpose
The step explorer (apples to apples). The OPC and Bongo Beach columns are the same unit at the same granularity: both are full governmental formation processes, broken into the same 19 procedural moments. Comparing them step-for-step is a fair, like-with-like comparison every time.
The precedent comparator (apples to oranges, by design). Maggie Daley Park, Seneca Park #1242, Lane Beach Park #1265, and our other CPD case studies are single-unit historical precedents, each one a whole, one-time case, not broken into 19 procedural steps the way OPC and Bongo are. Holding one of them up against a specific OPC/Bongo step is genuinely a different kind of comparison, and the banner says so every time. That mismatch is itself useful information: it shows which precedents still need to be researched down to step-by-step rigor before they're a true apples-to-apples comparator, rather than hiding the gap behind a tidy-looking table.
Every field traces back to a specific statute section, code section, or CPD document. Use the numbered sources at the bottom to verify anything before repeating it to CPD.
Step-by-step explorer
Pick a step to see the Obama Foundation/OPC path and the Bongo Beach application side by side, the exact governing authority, and who should role-play each part.
Compare against a precedent
Bring in up to two of our other CPD precedent case studies to sit alongside whichever step is currently open above. Each one gets its own apples-to-apples / apples-to-oranges signal.
Trigger matrix: what should Bongo Beach avoid importing?
A "No, unless…" answer means the process should not be treated as a prerequisite merely because OPC encountered it.
| Process | OPC | Bongo establishment phase | Trigger that could change the answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Special state enabling law | Yes | Probably no | If CPD Act is found insufficient to subdivide/establish the park. |
| CPD framework planning | Yes, used | Recommended | Board/Planning may request planning record; not itself necessarily a legal prerequisite. |
| Land transfer to City/private use agreement | Yes | No | Only if ownership/control is proposed to leave CPD. |
| Lakefront Protection Ordinance | Yes | Probably no | Construction, roadway building, or covered public-agency acquisition/disposition. |
| Planned Development / zoning map action | Yes | No | Major new physical development or zoning action. |
| CDOT/IDOT transportation project | Yes | No | Road/ROW/access/underpass/intersection/traffic changes. |
| FHWA | Yes | No | Federal-aid highway funding or another FHWA approval. |
| Section 106 | Yes | No | A federal undertaking affecting historic property. |
| UPARR/NPS conversion approval | Yes | Probably no | Conversion of federally assisted recreation land or other grant-triggered action. |
| NEPA | Yes | No | Federal agency funding, permit, approval or undertaking. |
| Section 4(f) | Yes | No | USDOT action using protected park/recreation/historic property. |
| Army Corps / water permit | Yes/related | No | Physical work in waters, lakefill, dredging, shoreline structures, etc. |
| CPD park-establishment instrument | No direct equivalent | YES — core action | Always required in some form for the Bongo objective. |
| CPD park number / GIS implementation | No direct equivalent | YES | Follows formal establishment. |
| CPD naming process | No direct equivalent | YES, after creation | To make “Bongo Beach” the official park name. |
| PAC registration | No direct equivalent | YES, after creation | Once a separately recognized park exists. |
Questions that remain open, and must not be guessed
- Since its 1934 creation, has the Chicago Park District itself ever formally split one of its own existing numbered parks into two numbered parks, and what exact Board instrument did it use? (South Park's division into Jackson Park, Washington Park, and the Midway Plaisance doesn't answer this — that split happened under the South Park Commission before CPD existed; CPD only inherited the already-differentiated result. This question asks whether CPD has ever exercised that same power on its own, post-1934.)
- What are the precise steps to assigning a new park number — does it require a Board vote, or can Planning/administrative staff assign one after a separate Board property/boundary action?
- Would CPD treat a boundary-only division of Park No. 19 as an amendment to the South Lakefront Framework Plan, or merely as an administrative/property-management action?
- Are any portions of the proposed 59th–63rd/63rd Street Beach area subject to UPARR or other federal recreational-use covenants, and do those covenants care about park-number identity if recreation remains unchanged?
- Where exactly are the jurisdictional boundaries among CPD, City/CDOT, IDOT, harbor operations, and any submerged/state lands around DuSable Lake Shore Drive, Hayes Drive and the Outer Harbor?
- Does CPD’s internal facility/location hierarchy already treat 63rd Street Beach as a child facility/location with a unique code that can be promoted into a new parent park location?
- What is the current authoritative legal description of Park No. 19, as opposed to the public GIS polygon?
Sources
- S1 — Chicago Park District Act, 70 ILCS 1505/0.01 et seq.. Illinois General Assembly. Key provisions include §7 (roadway function allocation), §7.01 (power to lay out/establish/manage parks), §7.02 (Board ordinance authority), and §15 (acquisition/improvements). Source link
- S2 — Park District Aquarium and Museum Act, 70 ILCS 1290/1. Illinois General Assembly. Authorizes presidential libraries, centers and museums in public parks; the OPC path relied on this enabling framework. Source link
- S3 — Planning & Construction / Planning & Development. Chicago Park District. Describes CPD planning functions and provides framework plans including the South Lakefront Framework Plan. Source link
- S4 — South Lakefront Framework Plan (2018). Chicago Park District. Community-based plan for Jackson Park and South Shore Cultural Center; maps 63rd Street Beach and related lakefront features. Source link
- S5 — Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation, Federal Actions In and Adjacent to Jackson Park. NPS/FHWA project record. States the 2018 SLFP was presented to the CPD Board April 11, 2018 and did not require formal approval as a framework plan; distinguishes local road/OPC decisions from FHWA actions. Source link
- S6 — Final local approval / use-agreement context for OPC. Obama Foundation / City approval record. Documents October 2018 City Council approval and contemporaneous federal-review context. Source link
- S7 — Chicago Municipal Code §16-4-100, Lakefront Protection Ordinance administration. City of Chicago. Plan Commission receives covered applications, conducts noticed public hearing and issues written approval/disapproval. Source link
- S8 — OPC Planned Development and Lakefront Protection applications. Obama Foundation. Documents filing of OPC Planned Development and Lakefront Protection Ordinance applications in January 2018. Source link
- S9 — Protect Our Parks v. Buttigieg / federal-review record. Federal court / transportation environmental review. Explains NPS UPARR action, FHWA funding action, EA alternatives and FONSI context. Source link
- S10 — Jackson Park Improvements project. City/CDOT project information. Describes roadway/mobility improvements supporting the South Lakefront Framework Plan and OPC. Source link
- S11 — Section 4(f) policy and statutory framework. Federal Highway Administration. Explains protection of publicly owned parks, recreation areas and historic sites in federal transportation actions. Source link
- S12 — Chicago Jackson Park Section 106 Memorandum of Agreement. Illinois SHPO / federal consulting record. Memorializes resolution/mitigation of adverse effects from the federal undertaking. Source link
- S13 — Federal Actions In and Adjacent to Jackson Park / UPARR and NEPA record. National Park Service. Project hub for NPS/FHWA environmental review, UPARR action, EA/FONSI and related documents. Source link
- S14 — CPD Board record explaining park-number assignment. Chicago Park District Legistar. States that the Chicago Park District assigns an official park number to every property; useful evidence for the implementation step. Source link
- S15 — Park Naming & Unnaming Process. Chicago Park District. Current public-facing naming/unnaming process under Chapter VII; naming should be treated as separate from establishment. Source link
- S16 — Park Advisory Council Guidelines (updated February 2025). Chicago Park District. States CPD recognizes only one registered PAC per park and sets out formation/registration steps. Source link