After months of contentious debate, the Land Use Commission voted 7-1 on Wednesday to recommend City Council adopt the Envision Evanston 2045 comprehensive plan, a 20-year roadmap for the city’s future. 

Commissioner Brian Johnson was the lone dissenting vote, citing internal inconsistencies, and Commissioner Kiril Mirintchev was absent.  

At the meeting, the commission reviewed and edited the text of the plan’s second draft, which was updated with the suggestions from its meeting last month.  

When Mayor Daniel Biss first introduced Envision Evanston in February 2024, its comprehensive plan and zoning overhaul received far-reaching criticism for its expedited timeline. Many residents said they desired more avenues to express their concerns, many of which were related to how the document addressed housing and density.

In January, Council separated the comprehensive plan from the associated rezoning measures. Since then, the Land Use Committee has deliberated over specific wording in the comprehensive plan and repeatedly delayed voting on whether to recommend it to City Council.

On Wednesday, Chair Jeanne Lindwall reminded commissioners of their ultimate goal: to provide specific recommendations to City Council instead of broader ideas.

“The reality is we need to send something to the council with specific language, and I don’t think we want to create any more work and time and effort for staff than is necessary,” Lindwall said. 

Commissioners attempted to decide on concrete wording changes to the plan at the meeting. While the group made some alterations fairly easily, others required more intensive deliberation. 

A summary of initial community survey results said white respondents were “less positive about” integration.

“I suspect that the potential misreading of that sentence (isn’t) what we want in a public document about our city,” Commissioner Loren Berlin said. 

The commission altered this phrase to more accurately reflect their understanding of residents’ concerns about integrating new development into existing neighborhoods.

Lindwall also proposed expanding the introductions of several chapters of the document, including the housing chapter, claiming these revisions were necessary to summarize the main objectives of included policy suggestions. The commission passed these changes with minor alterations. 

Lindwall’s drafted phrasing regarding housing suggested that “housing supply is not likely to ever catch up with demand.” Newly appointed Commissioner Luke Harris-Ferree took issue with this language, claiming it didn’t align with their vision for the city. The commission ultimately rejected this line.

“My goal is that everyone who would like to live in Evanston would be able to do so, and I don’t want to set ourselves up for saying that’s not possible,” Harris-Ferree said.

The commission considered other housing-related issues. At its April 16 meeting, the commission settled upon a policy to “preserve and increase Evanston’s diverse housing choices.” Johnson said that language should be standard throughout the document to more accurately reflect divided community input. 

Harris-Ferree said the words “preserve” and “increase” were inherently contradictory. Commissioner Max Puchtel said he was concerned about the consequences of revising any mention of increased housing supply. 

The commission voted 3-5 against Johnson’s suggestion.

Commissioners also discussed language relating to age demographics. A section in the economic development chapter said replenishing the city’s workforce may be difficult as its population ages, which the commissioners deemed speculative. 

The commission will now send the comprehensive plan to City Council, where it awaits further deliberation. 

“I think that the council should be encouraged to really address how the final document — after they provided their input — can be reviewed by the community, so that at the end of the day, what’s being adopted is a comprehensive document that reflects our community,” Lindwall said.

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Related Stories:

— New councilmembers reflect on Envision Evanston as zoning legislation emerges in Springfield

— Land Use Commission debates alterations to Envision Evanston 2045

— Land Use Commission expects to push plan recommendations to late April