By Megan Crepeau and Danny YadronThe Daily Northwestern
The Evanston City Council passed a long-debated west Evanston development plan at its meeting Monday night, despite objections from citizens and aldermen over gentrification of the area.
Aldermen also added a condition to the ordinance that city staff would develop a plan to ensure West Side residents would not be forced out by rising property values from new construction.
“Any development is a mixed blessing that comes along with enhanced property values that eliminate (people) who can’t pay,” Ald. Steven Bernstein (4th) said. “That’s a concern of mine, and I don’t know how we address that.”
Last summer, the city decided to update its land-use policy for the west side of Evanston, which has suffered from economic stagnation for decades.
In 2005, the city created a Tax Increment Financing district for much of west Evanston. Property tax revenues going to schools and other government bodies are frozen over the 23-year life of the TIF, and any funds from an increase in property taxes created by new development is re-invested in public works and capital improvements in the district.
Two consulting firms hired by the city met with local residents and community leaders to discuss the specifics of a plan creating a framework for new buildings in the area. Originally, the City Council was to vote on the plan in December, but concerns about the plan’s scope and function held up its approval until Monday night.
Aldermen did not renew a ban on all new buildings in the West Side TIF district. The moratorium will expire Friday.
Before passing the plan, Ald. Elizabeth Tisdahl (7th) addressed the amendment to the plan from earlier that evening.
“Council requires the development plan to mitigate the effects of gentrification and displacement,” she said.
Although aldermen unanimously agreed to pass the ordinance with the addition, the effects of the amendment have not yet been made clear.
Despite the public process in developing the plan, some residents are still concerned that new development will price them out of the neighborhood.
“I’d feel a lot more comfortable if you’d adopt the plan with some considerable measures on it,” Evanston resident Carlis Sutton said. “I just want you to know we’re not opposed to development. We are opposed to being removed from Evanston.”
Another resident, Tina Payton, also had questions about the plan’s implications.
“There are a lot of people who have been with the community for a long time and they’ll have to move,” she said. “How many people will have to suffer and move away from the community?”
In the Planning and Development Committee meeting that preceded the City Council meeting, Evanston Planning Division Director Dennis Marino said city staff has been responsive to such concerns.
“The entire process is based on 50 to 70 people who have constantly participated,” he said. “There continue to be differences of opinion, but I think (the plan is) a fair synthesis of people’s discussions.”
James Wolinski, the city’s community development director, warned that passing the plan with an extra caveat would not prevent gentrification on its own.
“We have to figure out a happy medium,” he said.
Reach Megan Crepeau at [email protected].
Reach Danny Yadron at [email protected].
