By Ketul PatelThe Daily Northwestern
The Evanston City Council will discuss a controversial proposal for a new building on Central Street at tonight’s meeting.
The project involves a four-story retail and residential building with 48 living units and 100 parking spaces. Its site includes two landmarks, a historic house at 1722 Central St. and a movie theater at 1702 Central St., that would have to be torn down.
Developer Evanston Central I originally intended to use the house in its project, but proposed to demolish the house to make its building shorter.
The council voted 7-2 during its Jan. 8 meeting to give the developers a chance to present the plans to the council again after they were initially recommended for rejection by the Plan Commission.
A group calling itself the Friends of Central Street and Central Street Neighbors asked the City Council’s Planning and Development Committee to follow the Plan Commission’s recommendation. The group said the development would bring increased traffic in an already narrow alley.
Ald. Elizabeth Tisdahl (7th), whose ward includes the site of the proposed project, said the plan will benefit the neighborhood.
“It’s a good plan, and it’s certainly better than having three empty spaces on one block,” she said, referring to the two landmarks and another movie theater at 1716 Central St.
She noted the movie theaters were closed more than five years ago, while the house has been vacant for two years. “That’s not a good trend,” she said.
Tisdahl said the people whose houses are adjacent to the alley are satisfied with the plan. In a meeting to discuss the plan with the neighbors, one family spoke in favor of the project while the other families remained neutral, she said.
But Ald. Delores Holmes (5th) said she voted against rehearing the plan because of the opposition she heard from the neighbors.
“I think the neighbors have been very vocal about it,” she said. “I was hoping the neighbors and the developers could come to an agreement.”
The council also will vote on a plan to revitalize Evanston’s underdeveloped West Side. Parts of the West Side are included in a Tax Increment Financing district, in which the city issues bonds to fix the infrastructure of underdeveloped areas. It also locks in the tax rates in these districts to entice potential developers.
The master plan is a general framework that the city will use to oversee future development along the old Mayfair Railroad corridor.
Holmes said she hopes the plan will pass because it took the residents’ interests into consideration.
“The whole idea is to revitalize the West Side,” she said. “The plan helps set the guidelines in terms of what the community wants.”
The council also will vote on a youth engagement program to reach out to younger Evanston residents. The program proposes the hiring of a youth coordinator to lead the Evanston Youth Council, the Youth Commission and the Youth Summit. The program will also sponsor the city’s hiring 10 work-study students from Evanston Township High School.
“I think everyone in the community feels that we should be doing more to help the youth in terms of outreach or to help find them jobs,” Ald. Anjana Hansen (9th) said.
The council also will discuss increasing fees that patients have to pay to ride in ambulances and that companies have to pay to close down public ways, such as for construction. And aldermen will consider a proposal to charge residents a monthly sanitation fee.
Reach Ketul Patel at [email protected].
