City Council voted 8-1 to sell a 9th Ward lot to Evanston Township High School for the construction of an affordable housing unit Monday.
The decision ignited public outcry in the newly dedicated Lorraine H. Morton City Hall, prompting tears, multiple calls for order and some residents to storm out of the room.
The sale will allow students in ETHS’ Geometry in Construction program to build and install a Washington Street home to be purchased by a middle-income family.
Ninth Ward resident and ETHS sophomore Olin Wilson-Thomas expressed frustration with those opposing the project.
“The proposal for this site is the result of months of hard work by my peers at ETHS,” Thomas said during public comment. “The Geometry in Construction program has produced many success stories of quality affordable housing that is made by, for and in Evanston, but tonight, this program and its mission are in jeopardy.”
The lot sits near LYDIA Home, a residential facility that provides emotional and behavioral therapy to children who have experienced trauma, and Rice Children’s Center, a day school for Evanston/Skokie School District 65 students with high emotional, behavioral and mental health support needs. Pope John Paul XXIII School and St. Nicholas Catholic Church are also located on the block.
Some neighbors urged councilmembers to instead establish a community garden to preserve green space in the neighborhood, prevent congestion and promote relationships between homeowners and nearby children.
During public comment, Washington Street residents read letters in support of creating the garden and directly criticized Ald. Juan Geracaris (9th), who has strongly supported the Geometry in Construction project.
Heather Miller, a realtor who lives on the block, said the project for a community garden has support among teachers and counselors.
“The residents on our block truly believe that this property is much better suited to serve as a community space to use for educational purposes, relaxation and natural conservation,” Miller said.
Geracaris countered these complaints, saying he doesn’t believe adding a single family unit to the block will add to its congestion.
He argued the project promotes Evanston’s goal of advancing housing affordability and diversifying housing stock.
“A council needs to take into account the whole city,” Geracaris said. “I represent the whole 9th Ward, not just one block.”
Ald. Devon Reid (8th) challenged whether the residents’ concerns were genuine. He called their organizing an example of NIMBY — Not In My Backyard — culture that uses the stories of “vulnerable” populations to oppose affordable housing and advance their own agenda.
Agnes Doyle, a resident who grew up on the block, said she was “enraged” by Reid’s assertion.
“My interest is the kids living (at LYDIA) having a better life,” Doyle said. “What is he suggesting? That those are my terrible interests? I’m not a homeowner there — I just grew up there.”
Ald. Jonathan Nieuswma (4th) sympathized with Doyle’s desire to build relationships with local students, but said he hopes the block’s residents will extend the same welcome to future occupants of the new home on the lot.
“It’s not a high rise. It’s not a homeless shelter. It’s a house,” Nieuwsma said. “It’s a house that houses for years and years, and I would like them to be welcomed to the community.”
Some Washington Street residents left the meeting disillusioned with the near-unanimous vote in favor of the Geometry in Construction project. Only Ald. Tom Suffredin (6th) dissented. At the last council meeting, Suffredin delayed the vote for the project in order to allow Geracaris to meet with his constituents about the project.
Still, Nieuwsma said the council had sufficiently evaluated the neighbors’ concerns.
“We’ve heard you,” Nieuwsma said. “That is what happens in democracy sometimes.”
Email: j.baker@dailynorthwestern.com
X: @jdowb2005
Email: MarisaGuerraEcheverria2027@u.northwestern.edu
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— City dedicates newly-operational Lorraine H. Morton City Hall
— City Council likely to see three new members in light of April 1 elections
