The Cubs are on the Landmarks Commission’s scheduled Thursday to present the team’s revised plans to expand Wrigley Field. But the revised plans have met opposition from the neighborhood and the rooftop owners and according to multiple reports Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Rahm Emanuel addressed the latest with Wrigley Field.
Mayor Emanuel “encouraged” the Cubs and the Wrigleyville Rooftop Association “to continue to negotiate a deal that would avoid a court battle.”
According to the Tribune, Mayor Emanuel did not say the Cubs should shelve the revised plans which calls for seven signs in the outfield and go back to the two signs that were approved last year, a video board in left field and a see-through sign in right field, but he “stopped just short” of saying as much.
The rooftop owners reportedly went to the Cubs last week with a compromise that if the team would install only the two signs (left field and right field) that were approved last year, the Wrigleyville Rooftop Association would not pursue legal action.
The Cubs have not responded to the rooftops’ proposal and plan to go in front of the Landmarks Commission Thursday.
Mayor Emanuel said Tuesday both sides “should always have an open door policy to negotiate.”
Ald. Tom Tunney held a neighborhood meeting Monday night to give the residents a chance to discuss their concerns about the Cubs revised plans.
Ald. Tunney said Monday that some of the Cubs’ plans “fly in the face of what I believe is being a good neighbor.” Ald. Tunney does not approve of the Cubs revised plans that includes more than the two signs that have already been approved.
According to the report from the Tribune, Mayor Emanuel also voiced concerns “about the Cubs being better neighbors to the community” but according to the Tribune, “stopped short of saying what specific solution should be reached when it comes to the number of new signs inside the ballpark.”