Evanston’s moratorium on construction in the business district around Chicago Avenue and Main Street approached an end Wednesday night when the city’s Plan Commission approved a proposal to divide the district into several pieces.
The commission’s vote both lifted residents’ fears and satisfied developers of a former bank, whom residents have opposed. Now, the City Council will have to vote on whether to create an ordinance from the Plan Commission’s proposal.
The district is divided in half by Metra train tracks running parrallel to Chicago Avenue, bordered by Hinman and Sherman avenues on the east and west and by Lee and Washington streets to the north and south.
The council approved a 150-day moratorium in April, banning construction of all buildings more than 67 feet tall in the district near Main and Chicago. The city responded to neighboring residents who were concerned that taller buildings in the district would increase traffic, parking and pollution problems, as well a change the character of the neighborhood.
Residents at Wednesday night’s meeting voiced the same concerns. Southeast Evanston resident Donna Nelson said she would like to see the area’s buildings remain proportionate to each other and to the homes.
“We do not want to look like downtown Evanston,” she said, alluding to a previous comment by Debbie Hillman, who spoke for a coalition of neighborhood groups.
“Southeast Evanston … proves to be the site of the tallest buildings outside of downtown,” Hillman said. More tall buildings would add more problems, she said.
Under current zoning, existing or new buildings can be up to 125 feet in height.
One existing building, which houses GreatBank Evanston, 603 Main St., was scheduled for redevelopment once the bank moved accross the street to its new building, one of the district’s tallest. There were concerns that the old building would get more floors, still betraying the look of the neigborhood.
But Kevin Pearson, one of the developers of the old building, said he and his partner, Steve Mullins, were not as interested in adding height as in changing the look of the building. The geometry of the piece of land on which GreatBank sits makes it virtually impossible for a developer to go past 67 feet, when parking is taken into consideration, said Arthur Alterson, a zoning administrator .
If the commission’s proposal is supported by the council, the old building, which is east of the Metra tracks, and the south side of Main between Chicago and Hinman, will constitute the new district.
The commission agreed the area north of GreatBank on both sides of Chicago should restrict building heights to under 68 feet. The commission also agreed that the north side of Main between Chicago and Hinman, as well as the area west of the Metra tracks, should be classified for building heights restricted to under 46 feet.
