The legal battle over the Northeast Evanston Historic District likely will proceed to court, although not in its entirety.
Judge Marvin Aspen released a decision Sept. 12 in which he ruled two of the university’s six claims should go to trial. He ruled in Evanston’s favor on the other counts.
The university originally sued the city in November 2000 over the enaction of the historic district, which bars Northwestern from modifying buildings in protected parts of northeast Evanston. The university claims it was treated wrongfully because it does not pay property taxes.
Aspen’s decision did leave major issues on the table. He refused to rule on whether or not the city was motivated by animosity toward NU and violated the university’s right to equal protection when it enacted the historic district. Also, he did not rule on whether or not Evanston illegally tried to use the historic district to persuade NU to return property to the tax rolls.
At least one member of the Evanston City Council is not pleased with Aspen’s decision. Ald. Steven Bernstein (4th) said he thinks the judge was “absolutely wrong.”
“I don’t know if he misunderstood the facts,” Bernstein said. “But some of the issues raised were just not accurate.”
Aspen wrote that the city’s motives in founding the historic district were questionable and should be decided in court. While the city has the right to protect institutional expansion, it cannot act out of “totally illegitimate animus” toward the university.
One example cited in the decision is a late addition of several university properties that do not contribute to the historic district. He wrote that this raises serious questions about the city’s motives.
But Aspen left a strong burden of proof for the university. Aspen ruled that in order for NU to succeed, it will need to prove that five aldermen acted out of animosity toward the university. He wrote that he found NU had previously given evidence of four.
In addition, NU has the added responsibility of proving that former Second Ward alderman Dennis Drummer acted as a representative of the city in trying to broker a deal with Eugene Sunshine, NU’s vice president for business and finance, in which the university would return some property to the tax rolls in return for the elimination of the district.
If the proposal was as NU’s claims, it is the type of “out-and-out plan of extortion” that is prohibited by law, Aspen wrote.
But the city and Drummer have said he was not acting as a representative of the city. Drummer did acknowledge he discussed the decision with most of the council.
Despite these requirements and the fact Aspen ruled against NU on four counts, administrators are pleased with the decision, Sunshine said.
“We won because we survived,” Sunshine said. But the decision was not a complete victory since things could change, he said.
As of Monday, the city had not made any decisions on where to proceed next with the case because the council had not met and NU is still waiting to see what Aspen will say at the status hearing scheduled for Oct. 3.
Sunshine said once the case becomes more clear, the university will look at resolving the issue out of court, which would be the best solution.
“If all we’ve done at the end of the day is add to hostilities, how is that good for Northwestern or for the city or for residents,” he said.
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Judge: Historic district lawsuit will go to court
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