A joint Northwestern-Evanston committee finally had its first meeting last week in a bid to open dialogue between the two parties over university land development and usage.
After months of vigorous discussion between aldermen about which community leaders to appoint to the committee, the first meeting was uneventful. City and NU officials agreed that a new ordinance establishing greater city oversight on developments would exclude some university properties. And NU officials told the committee they have no major development plans on the horizon.
Now the members just need to figure out what exactly to talk about next.
The committee, composed of city, university and community representatives, was set up under the terms of a lawsuit settlement between the city and the university in February. Officials from both parties are willing to sit down and discuss land-use issues, but whether there will be something to discuss at the committee’s next meeting, scheduled for October, remains to be seen.
“There just wasn’t much to talk about right now,” said Ald. Arthur Newman (1st). “As for the future, it’s all going to be based on good faith on both sides and whether or not people want to have open discussion about differences on land use.”
Ultimately, community members will have to bring their concerns forward to open a real dialogue, said committee member David Schoenfeld, who lives in the First Ward.
Schoenfeld said he viewed the first meeting as “preliminary” and that more could be done in the future. He said there will be a community meeting later in the summer so that residents’ concerns can be brought before the committee.
Michael Sear, a First Ward resident who attended the meeting, said he already knows what he wants. He said the university should present a five- or 10-year development plan to the committee so the community will know what the university wants from its members.
“That’s something that would go a long way in helping everyone in understanding what the university’s goals are and what they need from the neighborhood,” he said. “If we got that alone it would make for a very successful committee.”
Judy Berg, who was appointed to the committee by Ald. Elizabeth Tisdahl (7th) to represent the Seventh Ward, said she plans to send out a newsletter through the neighborhood group North Evanston Watch to encourage residents to bring their concerns forward.
But Berg, who lives near Ryan Field, said that her neighborhood and the university already have a healthy working relationship and that any major issues could probably be resolved outside of the committee.
“I don’t foresee anything down the road … the nice aspect is that where we are already working with Northwestern,” she said. “(The committee) would only enhance the relationship with Northwestern and the neighbors.”
For its part, NU is willing to sit down and discuss any community concerns, said Lucile Krasnow, the university’s special assistant for community relations.
But Schoenfeld said the most important thing is for the university to be forthcoming about its future plans.
“From the community standpoint our positions are pretty transparent,” he said. “It’s up to the university to make of this what it could be by being equally transparent about their plans … the university has probably brought some of the public ire on itself by not being as open.”
No matter what is on the agenda next time, some residents view the committee itself in a relatively positive light.
“Anything that opens up communications between the university and the neighborhood is very positive,” Sear said.
City Reporter Mike Cherney is a Medill sophomore. He can be reached at [email protected].
