The handshakes didn’t last long at Ald. Shawn Iles’(3rd) inaugural ward meeting Tuesday night.
Though the gathering opened with pleasantries and closed with applause, in between, tempers flared over a South Boulevard affordable housing development — stirring deep divisions ahead of the project’s construction this summer.
Representatives from the Housing Authority of Cook County, PIRHL Developers LLC — the project’s developer — and city staff laid out brief updates on the yearslong effort to break ground on the 60-unit project.
Then came 90 minutes of sharp questions from residents.
Many were opposed to what they saw as a lack of community input before the plan’s approval and its most recent ownership transfer to the HACC. Economic Development Manager Paul Zalmezak made it clear: “There’s no opportunity to stop this project from happening.”
“Does the Housing Authority of Cook County pay property taxes?,” the first attendee who was called on inquired.
From there, a wide scope of residential concerns dominated the conversation, with questions ranging from shifting traffic patterns and neighborhood safety to the new five-story building’s potential effects on sunlight dispersal on the block.
Third Ward residents Calvin Lynn and Doree Stein, who live in homes adjacent to the new development, both raised several concerns at the meeting, continuing their long-standing opposition dating back to the project’s early planning phases.
Lynn said he was particularly worried his property would be devalued if “different types of people” who are not originally from Evanston move in, as they don’t “appreciate the surroundings” of the city.
Lynn’s question — which alluded to an earlier query regarding whether current Evanston residents would have priority in obtaining one of the new units — prompted a hammering exchange over whether the concerns being raised were discriminatory in nature.
“The day we start doing crime studies to figure out if new residents are going to be criminals is the day I leave Evanston,” Zalmezak said.
Zalmezak later doubled down on his view when another resident asked a similar question, adding that residents should not consider crime studies for affordable housing projects if they are not demanded for single-family homes.
“Let’s assume that people are coming here with good intentions and they want to be part of the community,” Zalmezak said.
Johana Casanova, senior vice president of development at PIRHL, said she’s seen the project weather a variety of challenges since she began working on it in 2017.
Funded through a low-income federal tax credit, 18 of the 60 units are reserved for individuals who will receive a project-based voucher, meaning that their income, adjusted for family size, must be below 30% of the area median income.
As Casanova and city staff attempted to explain the details of the property’s finances, residents balked at the way they presented the information.
One attendee interrupted to remind the speakers to avoid acronyms — like AMI for area median income and HACC for Housing Authority of Cook County — because they are not widely understood.
“Don’t talk down to us,” another resident shouted.
The bedlam was exacerbated by a faulty speaker system, as people toward the back of the room repeatedly interrupted to announce they couldn’t hear, prompting Iles to carry two microphones around the room — one for those physically in attendance and another for residents who joined via Google Meet.
While the conversation primarily focused on the development that will replace a current surface parking lot at the intersection of South Boulevard and Hinman Avenue, some residents inquired about the timeline of other developments in South Evanston.
Sheila Sullivan, seated in the front row of the meeting, pressed Zalmezak on whether other lots would soon be transformed.
And when Zalmezak said there were no “immediate” plans in place, she showed him the receipts.
Deep into a city document entitled “Putting Assets to Work” — which Zalmezak said he played a major hand in writing — Sullivan showed him a list of eight current surface parking lots listed as having an “immediate” time frame to be repurposed into other housing developments or used for commercial purposes.
“I have never been so burned in a public meeting before, I have got to take your card,” Zalmezak joked.
Toward the meeting’s end, one resident challenged Iles on how he interprets his aldermanic role, referencing his opening remarks that he would “always listen, but not always agree.”
She argued his votes should reflect the majority opinion of his constituents and voiced concerns that the housing development had been pushed through without sufficient public input under former Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd).
“I don’t want to get into a conversation about what representative democracy means,” Iles responded. “I’m going to listen to people and hear their perspectives, and then come to a decision.”
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— ‘I was proud of the campaign I ran’: Shawn Iles to take office as 3rd Ward councilmember
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