Evanston City Council narrowly waived a local couple’s building permit fee at Monday’s meeting despite an earlier vote by the Planning and Development Committee not to recommend approval.
City Council voted 5-4 to defer the $2,474 permit cost to construct an addition to the home of Chris and Nancy Hoppa, 610 Callan Ave. A city ordinance allows aldermen to waive permit fees in cases of hardship.
The Preservation Commission had rejected the Hoppas’ plans last April to add a second story to their landmark home. In May the couple was permitted to build a two-story addition in the rear of their house.
The Hoppas requested that the council waive the fee for the new construction to compensate them for costs incurred from repeated design changes and a loss of rental income, Nancy Hoppa said.
“We have spent a considerable amount of time and cost in excess of what we planned,” she said.
Their house was previously a two flat, but the Hoppas have converted it to a single unit to accommodate changes in their family situation. If the couple had been allowed to add a second story, they would still have been able to maintain the rental property, Nancy Hoppa said.
The Hoppas currently are forced to rent elsewhere while their home is being rennovated. Nancy Hoppa said the original proposal would have allowed them to remain in their home.
Ald. Gene Feldman (9th) said he sympathized with the problems the Hoppas have encountered.
“I feel that we’ve asked enough (of them),” said Feldman, whose ward includes the Hoppas’ home. “It’s our standards that (they’re) paying for — our standards that cost (them) additional money.”
But Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd) voted against waiving the Hoppas’ fee and said she was worried it would set a precedent for future disgruntled homeowners.
“We have not set any standard here for what we’re going to consider a hardship in the future,” she said. “We are opening the floodgates.”
The council had previously waived fees only for nonprofit organizations, according to James Wolinski, director of community development.
In an earlier meeting of the Administration and Public Works Committee, the members voted to delay action on a new energy policy until after a public hearing is conducted.
“We need to have a focused discussion on the policy and definition of terms,” said Ald. Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd), the committee’s chairman. The hearing is scheduled for Nov. 21 at 6:30 p.m.
Commonwealth Edison is currently the city’s energy provider. The push for a new energy policy comes in response to problems with electrical blackouts caused by equipment failures.
The Energy Commission is suggesting the policy include periodic audits of ComEd and investigations into alternative energy sources.
Irwin Levinson, the Environment Board’s liaison to the Energy Commission, said previous dialogue between Evanston residents and ComEd was productive.
“Two to three years ago the community called on ComEd,” he said. “That’s when ComEd started to straighten up and fix things. That auditing by the public made things happen.”
