Aldermen will illuminate their intentions for increasing lighting around campus at tonight’s Evanston City Council meeting.
Adoption of a resolution up for a vote tonight would allow City Manager Julia Carroll to sign an agreement with NU to put in 19 new light fixtures.
“The city and the university should work together,” Ald. Ed Moran (6th) said. “And issues like safety and lighting are good things to work on.”
NU would pay for the installation of the lights, and the city would handle upkeep.
The new fixtures would run along the west side of Judson Avenue and the west side of Sheridan Road up to NU’s southern entrance, as well as along Church and Clark streets.
The move to increase lighting came in response last year’s muggings.
Almost a year ago, Associated Student Government sponsored a “light walk” to highlight the campus’ lighting needs. NU then resolved to install 47 new light fixtures during the 2005 Winter and Spring quarters, Senior Vice President for Business and Finance Eugene Sunshine said last school year.
But the Evanston Preservation Commission refused approval for this group of 19 fixtures until NU selected lights in August that blended in better with Evanston’s historic district.
Aldermen tonight also will consider an ordinance to approve a condominium development at 1567 Maple Ave. The property could provide the city with an additional $2 million in revenue, according to the developer, Winthrop Properties, LLC.
The 15-story building would have retail on the ground level and the other floors would be condominium units. The building at the development site became vacant when the C.J. Jung Institute outgrew its Evanston offices and relocated to Chicago.
The developer hopes to start selling units in January 2006 and begin construction in January 2007. They also will contribute $150,000 to fund affordable housing and $100,000 to landscaping the nearby Metra embankment.
Aldermen have discussed the building in the Planning and Development Committee since June. At the last full council meeting they returned it to committee for review.
The revised building will have lower ceilings on each floor, removing a combined 27 feet from the structure’s former height of about 180 feet.
At previous meetings of the Planning and Development Committee, residents voiced concerns about what effect the new building might have on traffic and the value of properties nearby.
At the committee’s request, the Department of Public Works compiled a report about the development’s possible impact on traffic in the area.
The report recommended easing potential driving complications by making Elmwood Avenue two-way from the development’s driveway to Grove Street.
The alteration would require removing 10 parking spaces and the report recommended dealing with the loss of parking meter revenues by charging the developer an annual fee of $7,800.
Moran said the new ordinance looks good but still may not be in its final form.
“I don’t want to necessarily say it’s finished,” Moran said. “We’ll have to hear from people. But it’s pretty close.”
Reach Elizabeth Gibson at [email protected].
