City Council moved to delay the final vote on the Strategic Housing Plan, Evanston’s first comprehensive housing strategy, in a 5-4 vote Monday.
Ald. Clare Kelly (1st) motioned to table the plan, nicknamed Housing4All, until May 11. Kelly raised several concerns about the strategy, which she said failed to discuss gentrification and lacked “concrete initiatives” to prevent the displacement of current residents.
Kelly was joined by the three other members of the Council’s “opposition bloc” — Alds. Parielle Davis (7th), Matt Rodgers (8th) and Tom Suffredin (6th) — which tends to oppose Mayor Daniel Biss’ agenda and voted against the city’s landmark comprehensive plan in January.
“Our duty is first and foremost to our residents who are here now,” Kelly said.
Ald. Bobby Burns (5th) also voted in favor of tabling Housing4All. He told The Daily he wanted two readings of the plan before voting on it.
Housing4All would guide policy and funding allocation over the next decade, with the goals of lowering housing costs and addressing the city’s long-standing racial and income inequities.
The plan aims to preserve between 500 to 1,000 existing affordable housing units, build between 2,500 to 4,000 new units and protect residents from displacement through stronger tenant protections.
City officials have been working on the plan since June 2024, and the Housing Community and Development Act Committee voted to advance it to a full Council vote in February.
The several dozen residents who spoke during public comment at Monday’s meeting were split on the housing plan.
Supporters leaned younger and included tenants, realtors and affordable housing advocates who were concerned about rising home prices.
SESP first-year Hyrum Flores spoke in favor of the plan, citing his experience as a student from a “low-income background” who “wants to live off-campus.”
“There are a lot of students in my position who come from very similar backgrounds, who really want to live in this city and contribute to it,” Flores said.
Several representatives of Connections for the Homeless, wearing blue and gold “Yes to Housing Zoning Reform” t-shirts, attended to show their support for Housing4All.
Jacki Davidoff, a Connections for the Homeless volunteer, said the housing strategy embodied “the same values” that brought her and her husband to Evanston 23 years ago.
“I think many of us in Evanston would say that the national direction of this country — of the wealthiest growing their wealth, while those with less are losing the footing that they have — is not the trend that our city would like to emulate,” Davidoff said.
Many opponents were older residents who argued Council had rushed the plan without sufficient public input or time to review the 134-page document, which the city released last month.
First Ward resident Paul Breslin opposed the plan and expressed frustration that Council was ignoring opposing views from residents, many of whom he said are “highly qualified professionals” who are educated in housing and affordability issues.
Breslin dislikes that these residents are sometimes written-off as members of the “Not-in-my-backyard” movement.
“We have people coming to public comment and are slagging them as NIMBYs and racists and old people,” he said.
Although the final vote was delayed, Alds. Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th) and Shawn Iles (3rd) advocated for the quick passage of Housing4All.
“Is this a perfect document? No,” Nieuwsma said. “This has been in development for almost two years. It’s been through the wringer at HCDC, which is the committee assigned to do this work.”
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— Meet the residents on both sides of Evanston’s housing debate
