While Envision Evanston 2045 has yet to release updated drafts since its initial November release, January has changed the trajectory of the city’s rezoning outlook and hailed an onslaught of public feedback.
Mayor Daniel Biss first announced Envision Evanston in February 2024. The comprehensive plan and rezoning overhaul are intended to address issues with land use, public facilities, landscaping and parking. The city currently follows a zoning code from 1993, and the comprehensive plan was last updated in 2000.
Matt Rodgers, the former chair of the Land Use Commission who resigned on Jan. 29, said that residents became increasingly involved in the document’s progress over the last month.
“It was not really until after we came back after the holidays that people really began to realize what all was in this document, how it would affect their properties, and how it would change Evanston,” Rodgers said. “That’s when people really started to engage.”
There have been several recent developments to the document. The city approved a new consulting contract on Jan. 28. The Land Use Commission voted to delay its recommendation to City Council on Jan. 30. More broadly, Biss has reconsidered his initial goal to gain approval from City Council ahead of the municipal elections April 1.
These changes have resulted from residents repeatedly voicing their concerns at public meetings.
When Evanstonians returned for the first 1st Ward meeting of 2025, they came prepared with a list of complaints. Among the residents’ most pressing concerns about the document were those involving housing policies and changes to the zoning code.
However, the most consistent criticism of the plan was its adoption timeline.
Central Street Neighbors Association President Jeff Smith said the fact the document was drafted with a “specific outcome in mind” conflicts with its purported goal to reflect community interests.
Smith said he has attended 15 meetings throughout January and even presented on the history of the city’s zoning laws at the Land Use Commission meeting on Jan. 29. Additionally, Smith said he disagrees with the Land Use Commission’s approach to the deliberation process.
“The commission has been very polite, but if you read between the lines, those that know anything about planning are extremely disappointed with the process and the product to date,” Smith said.
Biss changed his approach to the impending deadline over the course of just a few weeks. He told the Evanston RoundTable Jan. 8 that it was “immoral” to wait to approve the plan. By Jan. 14, he had changed his tone. At a City Council meeting Jan. 14, he said the Council should strike a balance between efficiently moving the plan forward and “the need to get it right and get more input.”
At the same meeting, City Council voted to delay the rezoning. Rodgers said the rezoning overhaul seems to be the most contentious subject among attendees at Land Use Commission meetings.
“I would say most people in Evanston agree there needs to be changes to our zoning ordinance and to our (comprehensive) plan,” he said. “It’s really just finding out where those commonalities are.”
Rodgers said one of the most debated zoning issues is the restructuring of R1-R3 residential districts. Ultimately, the commission did not reach a zoning recommendation when they met again Jan. 23, although they are expected to provide a recommendation by the end of August.
The month concluded with a Jan. 29 Land Use Commission meeting where commissioners decided to delay their vote on the second draft of Envision Evanston, set for release Feb. 21. Commissioners determined they would not have enough time to receive public feedback on the 200-page document in the five days between its release and their meeting Feb. 26.
“Lots of people are going to be looking at it kind of as a brand new document, because it’s not going to be something where, oh, just this paragraph changed, or some words here,” Rodgers said. “There’s whole new chapters that are going to be coming in. There’s differences of opinion on the concepts of how we zone the city and how we plan for the city.”
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