Jonathan Perman, executive director of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce, has one piece of advice for city residents concerned with over-development along Chicago Avenue: Beggars can’t be choosers.

“This is a city that loves to spend money,” Perman said. “But we have champagne tastes and a beer budget.”

Perman said the cash-strapped city can’t afford to prohibit developers from constructing tall apartment buildings on Chicago Avenue. But residents of surrounding neighborhoods have said the increased revenue these buildings would bring are not worth the cost they would pay in their quality of life.

An 18-month study by the Neighborhood Planning Committee lists seven recommendations to improve Chicago Avenue and attract new development. The Chicago Avenue Corridor Recommendations Report was presented March 26 to Evanston City Council by the Evanston Plan Commission.

One of the report’s recommendations proposes reducing the maximum allowable height of buildings from 107 feet, including four floors of parking, to 77 feet, including one floor of parking. The restrictions would affect buildings in a three-block area stretching from Washington Street to Oakton Street.

“The general sentiment was that buildings at 107 feet were simply too high for Chicago Avenue,” said Marc Mylott, Evanston zoning planner.

The 107-foot buildings would tower over neighboring buildings on Hinman Avenue, most of which are only 30 feet tall, said Madeleine Bennett, president of Dempster Area Neighbors East and a member of Resident Working Group, an organization that includes all the neighborhood groups in the area affected by the recommendation.

She also said the buildings would loom over the street and cast too much shade over the neighborhood.

But Perman said the land-poor city has little choice but to build up if it wants to bolster its tax base and provide more services.

“If you want to have more services or the same services that cost more, there are three ways to get the money,” he said. “You can get it off a tree, which clearly won’t happen. You can raise taxes, but nobody likes to do that. Or you can generate more value out of the land we have and improve property.”

Alex Sproul, president of Main Street Merchants, said he thinks the height limit would “significantly deteriorate the incentive” for developers to come to the area.

“We risk shooting down projects that would have been built,” he said.

But Steffen said the limit won’t necessarily scare away developers because the stable economy would allow them to make a profit while following the guidelines.

Ald. Arthur Newman (1st) said he would support the change in the height limit.

“Seven stories is pretty high,” Newman said. “Anybody who wants to build higher than that could come in on a variation.”

A variation is an exemption that could be granted by City Council to allow developers to exceed the limit.

The same recommendation also suggests that developers be required to provide more parking for the occupants of each apartment. While developers currently have to supply one parking space per apartment, the report recommends that the number be increased to 1.25 for one-bedroom apartments, 1.5 for two-bedrooms and two for apartments with three or more bedrooms.

Studies conducted for the committee show that most parking spaces on and near Chicago Avenue are filled during peak hours. While residents and merchants agree that parking is a problem in the area, Sproul said the proposed parking requirement increase is a little too high.

“We do not expect new development to solve existing parking problems,” he said.

The council’s Planning and Development Committee will hear more debate about the parking issue during its April 10 meeting.