Aldermen voted unanimously Monday to limit the areas in Evanston where gun ranges can set up shop, leaving five lots in the city as viable areas for a business to allow shooting instruction or practice.

The ordinance restricts gun ranges to locations outside 350 feet of certain residentially zoned districts, as well as schools, child day care facilities or public parks, requiring special use permits for areas within these zones.

Prior to the aldermen’s decision, several members of the public expressed that these limitations were not sufficient to curb gun use in the city.

“I wish we could outlaw guns but we can’t, so we’ve done the best we can,” Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl said in response.

State and federal laws permit gun ranges anywhere in the designated retail area of a city without ordinances specifying otherwise. Establishing rules for where gun ranges are allowed is the only way to limit them in the city, Ald. Brian Miller (9th) said.

“It is an open field right now in terms of the regulations on gun ranges, so if we don’t do something, there’s the potential for this actually to occur in the city,” Miller said.

Ald. Donald Wilson (4th) said he was appreciative of the public speakers for calling to attention the incompatibility of gun ranges and Evanston’s business community.

“There’s not a market for this, and I think it’s important for our community to make sure that that’s clear,” Wilson said. “This is not something that would be successful in our community. This does not fit with Evanston’s vision.”

If a gun range were to gain approval to open in Evanston, the city would establish thorough operational parameters, ensuring further safety, Wilson added.

City Council also approved a consultant to lead the Evanston Police Department in a diversity and inclusion workshop at an expense of $55,000. Gilo Kwesi Logan, president of Logan Consulting Services, will help officers identify their prejudices, understand how racial identity can affect relationships with police and foster a more positive partnership with the African-American community in particular.

Logan is the son of a retired Evanston police chief and an instructor of justice studies at Northeastern Illinois University.

The police department is consistently working to develop relations with all facets of the city, Evanston police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan told The Daily. The biggest difference of this workshop from those in past years is that the consultant has insight into Evanston and its inhabitants, Dugan said.

“Dr. Logan is from Evanston — born and raised here — and I think that perspective of his being from the community kind of localizes it, brings it home to real-life examples of interactions and how our interactions with the community influences their perceptions,” he said.

Aldermen also approved a three-year plan for the city’s improvements to parks and recreation facilities, which prioritizes replacement of a number of park equipment sets and bathroom facilities, as well as the design for the Robert Crown Center building project, said deputy city manager Erika Storlie. Tisdahl said the Robert Crown Center remains the No. 1 project on her priority list.

Although the city has plenty more capital improvements it needs to address, the city’s debt prevents it from making more long-term plans, city manager Wally Bobkiewicz said. Robert Crown is an example of a project in which the planning process, which started about nine years ago, didn’t align with the city’s financial capacity.

Aldermen hired a consultant last week to strategize public and private fundraising for the project, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2017.

“We sit here in 2015 and still are trying to put a financial plan together,” Bobkiewicz said to aldermen. “I think there’s fundamental disconnect between planning and implementing. My advice to you is to be cautious.”

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