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City Planners Mull Future Look of Downtown

They hope the current lull in development activity downtown will give them time to complete a planning process that has already been underway for the better part of a year.

The Downtown Plan Subcommittee of the Plan Commission met Oct. 18 with members of the Preservation Commission to coordinate ideas for how to preserve the best of what already exists downtown while not shutting off new development completely.

They hope to present those ideas at a meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. December 12 at the Evanston Public Library.

Here is what has happened this year in the downtown planning process so far:
· Last spring the Plan Commission panel developed a preliminary map that identifies several sections of downtown for special treatment as "transitional" or "traditional" areas. What that treatment would be has not yet been defined.
· The Plan Commission group then asked the Preservation Commission to identify possible downtown landmarks. The preservationists found there are already 29 landmark buildings downtown, identified about two dozen additional candidates, and winnowed that list to about 10 top prospects. But along the way they concluded that, given the difficulty they have had in recent years getting landmark designations approved by the City Council and the amount of work required to document a landmark building, the traditional landmarking process may not be a winning approach.
· Over the summer the City's planning staff tuned in to a relatively new zoning concept called form-based codes.A California consultant brought in to introduce the concept impressed aldermen and others who attended his presentation.
· The City hired two consultants to try out the form-based concept on the City's west side. With those firms now wrapping up their work, the City's planning staff is about to ask the City Council to adopt the same approach to tackle rezoning the three traditional downtown areas the Plan Commission panel has identified as well as the Fountain Square block at the heart of downtown.

Form-based codes tend to emphasize the size and shape of buildings more than dictating usage, and they often are developed using lots of interactive, hands-on meetings with neighborhood residents.

Plan Commissioner David Galloway said at the Oct. 18 meeting "a form-based code would define the building envelope. If we have historically significant buildings in an area, then the new code could require that any development keep the size of the envelope about the same. Therefore the incentive to tear down the historic building would be very low."

"That's likely to be far more effective," he added, "than if you make it a landmark building where it's still in a zoning category that permits much greater height."

Preservation Commissioner Jon Pohl said none of the buildings being considered for landmark status downtown is of a quality that would win them a place on the national register and perhaps only about five could reasonably merit local landmark designation.

But Preservation Commissioner Ann Dienner said many of the buildings are still "part of our heritage" and should be preserved if possible.

With Fewer Give-Backs,
Council Requires More From Developers For Affordable Housing

By Bill Smith

The City Council has voted to quadruple the contribution to affordable housing expected of developers of large new housing projects in the City.

At the Oct. 23 City Council meeting aldermen adopted an ordinance that requires a contribution of at least $4,000 per unit. But the ordinance contains provisions that would let developers request a reduction or waiver of the contribution if they could show the contribution would make a project financially unfeasible.

Until now the City has sought an ostensibly voluntary contribution to affordable housing that has recently worked out to about $1,000 per unit.

During heated debate on the measure that lasted for over three hours in committee and on the Council floor, the aldermen radically rewrote the draft ordinance presented by City staff and managed to cut its length by nearly half. The measure, which squeaked through the Planning and Development Committee on a 5-4 vote, was ultimately approved at the Council meeting 8-1.

Alderman Edmund Moran, 6th Ward, lost an effort to retain a provision in the draft ordinance that would have required that some affordable units be included in any new condo complex.

He said the on-site affordable units are needed "to assure that there’s a mixture of economic levels, that people of all different sectors get to live in close proximity to each other, instead of having ‘drive-by diversity’ in Evanston."

But Alderman Lionel Jean-Baptiste, 2nd Ward, said, "Segregation is not a real issue in Evanston. Some neighborhoods are mostly white, some are mostly black, but many others have a mix of groups. If I can get somebody the down-payment to buy, I think they can get a quality house in many areas. People who get the help with the down payment can choose to buy into these new developments if they choose, or live elsewhere in town."

Alderman Ann Rainey, 8th Ward, said eliminating the on-site requirement, and focusing on helping would-be homeowners with down payment assistance would make it possible to help far more residents with the same amount of money.

The aldermen also disagreed sharply about how deep to reach into developers’ pockets.

Alderman Melissa Wynne, 3rd Ward, argued that with its on-site requirement the draft ordinance could add nearly $1 million to the cost of a 100-unit building. "I should support this," she said, "because it would kill development on Chicago Avenue."

Ald. Moran ultimately proposed in committee reducing the contribution to $50,000 for every 10 units and that was further reduced at the full Council meeting to $40,000 for every 10 units.

The aldermen considered, but rejected, a suggestion from the City’s legal staff that they could make the ordinance apply to developments of fewer than 25 units. They concluded that extending it to smaller projects would increase the time required to deal with requests for relief of the rules so much that it would outweigh the additional funds raised.

Some aldermen also said smaller developers often operate on slimmer profit margins and could not afford to make the required payments.

The aldermen also voted to reduce the number of incentives available to developers in return for the affordable housing contribution. They cut provisions that would have provided reductions in parking requirements and increases in density or height, but left in provisions that would defer payment of City fees and expedite processing of applications.

Several aldermen said it was important to pass the ordinance at the Council’s last meeting before the scheduled Nov. 7 referendum vote on raising the real estate transfer tax 20 percent to fund affordable housing, to show the Council was doing its part on the issue, after several years of debate about it.

But as the meeting ended, Alderman Elizabeth Tisdahl, 7th Ward, said she feared that with the rushed passage the Council might actually have hurt the referendum’s chances.

Antenna on Ryan Field to Enhance Police and Fire Radios

By Bill Smith

The City Council has approved plans to enhance the City’s fire and police radio systems - a project officials say will cost $200,000 less than it would have otherwise because of a deal worked out with Northwestern University.

The City had planned to build its own radio tower at the municipal service center at 2020 Asbury Ave. But after the only bid for the project came in higher than expected, officials asked the vendor, Motorola, Inc., to look for cheaper alternatives.

The company discovered that an antenna placed atop the stadium at NU’s Ryan Field would effectively cover the area without requiring the expensive tower structure.

In a memo to the aldermen, Fire Chief Alan Berkowsky and Interim Police Chief Dennis Nilsson say the University has agreed to provide the site rent free, pick up the electrical service costs and provide connections between the University and City fiber-optic cable systems to link the radio transmitter back to the City’s dispatch center.

The project still will cost over a half-million dollars, but the fire and police chiefs say they hope to get a grant from a fund created by the settlement of the Telecommunications Infrastructure Maintenance Fee Lawsuit to cover nearly half the remaining cost.

Chief Berkowsky says firefighters often cannot hear transmissions on the City’s current radio system inside many buildings in town and the 911 dispatch center often cannot hear radio calls from the field.

The new system will replace a single-transmission antenna for the dispatchers with two antennas in different parts of the City and also set up a system of repeaters around town to capture and amplify calls from radios in the field.

The police radio system already uses repeaters, but the upgrade will provide it with enhanced reliability. Aldermen approved the plan unanimously at the Oct. 23 City Council meeting.

City Manager Appoints New Assistant

City Manager Julia Carroll has appointed Rolanda B. Russell to the position of assistant city manager.

Ms. Russell will begin her career in Evanston on Nov. 6 and will lead and manage a group of City departments, including finance; human resources; general services; human relations; facilities management; and parks, forestry and recreation.

She will also assist the city manager in a variety of areas of responsibility including interaction with the City Council, community and business groups and representatives, and citizens.

"We are very lucky Rolanda is coming to Evanston," said Ms. Carroll. "She brings with her some outstanding experience with policing strategies, youth outreach, and supervision of parks and recreation. I am sure her broad experience will be of great benefit to Evanston residents and employees alike.

Changing of the Guard

Fire Chief Alan Berkowsky, right in photo at right, saluted Shift Chief Ken Dohm, who retired from the Evanston Fire Department after 31 years of service. Chief Berkowksy presented Chief Dohm with a clock, a certificate, an in-house gag gift and a helmet  signed by all the firefighters in his division.

Captain David Arreguin, third from left in photo at left, gets help from his wife with the badge of his promotion to Shift  Chief, replacing Chief Dohm. Firefighter/Paramedic Brian Scott was scheduled to be promoted today, Nov. 1, Fire Captain, replacing Captain Arreguin. About 50 firefighters attended the retirement and promotion ceremony on Oct.30 at the main fire station, 909 Lake St.