Evanston officials seeking increased oversight for the appearance of new buildings might have a difficult time under Illinois law, a city attorney said Monday.

But Ald. Arthur Newman (1st) proposed a compromise that could meet the state’s stringent legal standards.

For months members of the city’s Planning and Development Committee have been considering how to implement a plan that would empower an independent body to review the appearance of new developments — then approve or reject them — possibly without the oversight of the Evanston City Council.

The plan, known as the binding appearance review, was proposed after a number of residents complained that some new buildings seemed out of place in Evanston — or just plain ugly. The Sight Plan Appearance Review Commission currently evaluates plans, but its decisions are only recommendations.

City lawyer Jack Siegel was asked to investigate how other communities review new sites. He found that Illinois courts consistently have overturned laws that create independent, binding review boards, even when those boards have clear standards.

Siegel did point out, though, that aesthetic judgments were usually fine as long as they went through a group that also considers safety and zoning factors, like Planning and Development does.

That might not work in Evanston, though, because of a high number of requests.

Newman’s solution to this problem would be for Planning and Development to handle projects over a certain size and then refer smaller projects, which are less likely to be disputed, to Site Plan and Appearance Review.

“We have to draw a line somewhere,” Newman said Wednesday. “We haven’t figured out where that line will be yet.”

He said that after working on binding appearance review for months, he just wants a plan that puts the city on firmer footing with developers.

“We’re just trying to get better-looking structures built in Evanston,” he said. “That’s our goal.”