The developers who purchased the Kendall College property presented new research Wednesday about the effects of their proposed project to a city committee, but residents said they still are not convinced the development is right for the neighborhood.
Two weeks ago Smithfield Properties presented the Evanston Site Plan and Appearance Review Committee with a new development plan for 19 single-family homes and 44 townhouses to be built at the property, 2408 Orrington Ave.
Robert Buono, Smithfield’s principal developer, said on Wednesday he predicts 120 to 130 residents will occupy the proposed development, based on his calculations of neighborhood population density from the 2000 U.S. Census.
He also said 2.07 people occupy each house in the neighborhood immediately surrounding the property.
The number would jump to 2.54 people per household with the Kendall property development included.
“These are just numbers,” Buono said. “I recognize it’s not a perfect system.”
Dean Scane, a neighborhood resident, said he does not believe that the statistics accurately portray the proposed development.
“The issue is how many units you have,” Scane said. “It’s not how many people live in the neighborhood.”
Smithfield’s first proposal had called for building 117 townhouses and another early proposal included 70 to 79 single-family homes and townhouses on the property.
Scane said the newest proposal violates existing codes regulating how far a house must be set back from the sidewalk.
He expressed worry that allowing Smithfield to bypass building codes would set a bad example.
“It’s a bad precedent,” Scane said. “‘Jones Development’ is going to say, ‘They did it there. Why can’t we do it here?'”
Some committee members objected to the developers’ plans to demolish the ocurrent buildings at the site. Carolyn Brzezinski, chairwoman of the committee, said she wants to see the brick Kendall administration building redeveloped, not demolished.
“I think it would be unfortunate to lose the texture some of these buildings have,” she said. “We’re dealing with a full city block and the nature of the fabric of the neighborhood … I think (the administration building is) a real anchor to the neighborhood.”
Evanston resident Robert Janes, who lives near the Kendall College property and bought his house from the college 30 years ago, said he is concerned about the traffic impact.
“There’s just going to be a glut of cars in the area,” Janes said. “They have to sacrifice green area or parking.”
A traffic engineer will evaluate the property next week.
The committee did not reject Smithfield’s proposal but held off on further discussion to allow Smithfield to come up with alternative plans to present at a future meeting.
