Vandalism, trespassing allegations intensify public-vs-private beachfront controversy in Winnetka

The sprawling Winnetka construction site on Sheridan Road has drawn more than its share of attention since bulldozing began 15 months ago.

And in that time, a significant portion of that attention has come with law enforcement in tow.

An incident of vandalism, several reports of trespassing and more at the site have resulted from at least 25 calls to police since April 2023, according to documents The Record obtained through a public-records request.

The property is owned by billionaire Justin Ishbia and his family, who leveled three lakefront homes in the 200 block of Sheridan Road to make way for a 68,000-square-foot mansion at 205 Sheridan. The Village of Winnetka approved the consolidation in 2022, and construction began in early 2023.

While the Ishbias’ plans for the merged lots passed through Village of Winnetka’s review process, they also led to changes in that process. The Winnetka Village Council, following a year’s worth of deliberations, has since tightened its regulations around beachfront development.

The project has also been a point of contention among residents, many of whom say the construction has done harm to the property’s natural surroundings, such as the bluffs and Lake Michigan’s water. Residents have also contended that the construction fencing and other barriers have impeded public access to the shoreline, a right under the Public Trust Doctrine.

In a statement to The Record, the Village of Winnetka says for safety reasons, members of the public are prohibited from crossing the construction site’s temporary fencing, which protects an “active construction site.”

“The area along the beach and water line at 205 Sheridan is currently an active construction site under permits issued by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Village,” the statement says. “All members of the public are required to comply with the construction fencing and the ‘Do Not Enter’ signage, in order to ensure the public’s health and safety.”

The Ishbia family was not available to answer questions; however, a representative for the family submitted the following statement to The Record:

“The property is under active construction in accordance with all lawful permits. Trespassers can present safety risks both to themselves and those working onsite. As a result, there have been instances where local law enforcement has been called to respond to trespassing and vandalism in the construction zone.”

According to the police documentation, not all community members have abided by the “No Trespassing” and “Danger” signage and have advanced through or around fencing to access the construction site.

‘Get Out’

Structures on the construction site were reportedly vandalized overnight on June 28.

According to the Winnetka Police Department, a person or persons scaled a security fence and used white paint to deface several areas of the property. In one area, the words “Get out” were painted.

Justin Ishbia declined to comment on the reported vandalism.

The incident is under investigation.

Aside from fencing, the construction site features numerous surveillance cameras, on- and off-site security, and an alarm system featuring motion detection, according to police documents.

Man on a mission

Security personnel at 205 Sheridan Road called police to report possible trespassing 13 times since September 2023 — more than half of the 25 calls to police from the property in that time, according to a Record review of police documents.

In only one of those incidents did Winnetka police issue a citation. Resident Ted Wynnychenko, a regular speaker at Village Council meetings and an opponent of the Ishbia site’s shoreline obstacles, received the violation on June 20 for allegedly trespassing on the property June 9.

According to a police summary, Wynnychenko removed a metal cable to create an opening in the fencing to gain access and remained in a restricted construction area for approximately an hour. For 22 minutes, the report says, Wynnychenko ventured away from the waterline and into an area where construction equipment is stored, taking photographs before returning to the shoreline.

The citation says Wynnychenko “unlawfully entered and remained within a secured construction site in violation of conspicuously posted signage.”

Wynnychenko, who has a trial date of July 22, told The Record that he will fight the citation in the hopes that it is dismissed. He argues that the day he entered the site, June 9, was a Sunday and he was not interfering with active construction. More importantly, Wynnychenko believes the land he was on belongs to the public and neither the Village of Winnetka or Ishbia family has the authority to deem it otherwise.

“I think it’s a big wrong, especially in Illinois and especially in Winnetka, that there’s this feeling that this (land) is private and the public doesn’t have a right to it,” Wynnychenko said. “It’s really troubling to me that our institutions aren’t willing to enforce the rules equally for everyone, and if you have enough money, it seems like, you can do what you want. That’s wrong, especially when it comes to things like the lake.”

The IDNR permit approved for the site, which The Record reviewed, does not give the permit holder any rights over public lands on which the construction may occur. The permit also makes clear that any created land — such as an artificial beach — cannot overrule the public’s right to the land.

Wynnychenko believes artificial beach created at 205 Sheridan has replaced what used to be publicly owned shoreline.

“I was never on their property,” he said. “I was in the waters of Lake Michigan or on land they had filled in.”

The June 9 incident was at least the fifth time Wynnychenko entered the construction site since work began. All four other occasions occurred in September 2023 and led to either Wynnychenko or site security — or both — calling the police, according to public documents.

Per the documents, in three of the September ’23 incidents, Wynnychenko entered the construction area near the shoreline and sat in a chair near the water’s edge. In conversations with local police during the incidents, Wynnychenko questioned the validity of posted signage about private property and requested better access to the shoreline.

He told The Record that he regularly visited the site to make a point, “to establish that it wasn’t private,” while also documenting the ongoing construction.

On Sept. 20, 2023, Winnetka police and Village Engineering Director Jim Bernthal responded to Wynnychenko’s presence on the shoreline at 205 Sheridan, and Bernthal told him site restrictions were approved by state (IDNR) and federal (Army Corps of Engineers) authorities. The next trespassing complaint against Wynnychenko was more than seven months later, on June 9, which led to a citation.

Wynnychenko’s story has caught the attention of many. Reporting from the Chicago Tribune was published by Yahoo and picked up by the Daily Mail.

He believes it has gained traction because it plays on a classic theme.

“It’s interesting because of the fact there is essentially an oligarch that is interested in taking public land that should be forever public and privatizing it for his own benefit,” Wynnychenko said. “… It’s the idea that if you have enough money you can do whatever you want whether right or wrong.”

More from law enforcement

Other individuals on or near the property also led to police intervention.

In an incident in April 2023, a social media personality accessed the site several times and posted videos online, before being asked not to return and removing the videos. In June 2023, a woman called police claiming the “No Trespassing” signs were illegal and took multiple of the signs with her. In July 2023, four individuals — one of whom was flying a drone — near the shoreline were asked to leave by security, but responding police said they were not in violation of any law.

In August 2023, Winnetka Park Commissioner Colleen Root and a Winnetka resident were asked to leave the beachfront near the construction site, and in February 2024, a motorist got into a verbal dispute with a construction worker on Sheridan Road outside of the construction site.

Six times police were notified by the site’s alarm company in possible trespasses that turned out to be false alarms.

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