Citizens Speak Out at First Plan Commission Hearing on Downtown Plan

By Mary Helt Gavin

On Nov. 6, the Plan Commission held the first of at least two public hearings on the downtown plan proposed by a consortium of City consultants composed of the Lakota Group, Duncan Associates, 180º Design Studio, KLOA and Goodman Williams Group.

Even though developers James Klutznick and Tim Anderson sat in the audience, no mention of the 49-story tower proposed for downtown Evanston was allowed at the Nov. 6 Plan Commission hearing on the downtown plan. City Council voted last spring to exempt this proposal and two other high-rise proposals - both subsequently withdrawn - from the downtown plan.

Three topics were under discussion: parks, open space and pedestrian environment; circulation and parking; and developmental framework and implementation strategies.

Downtown parks
The consultants said they walked the downtown area looking for ways to maximize downtown parks, create open space and enhance the pedestrian environment. Outside of Fountain Square, the two main parks in the downtown area are Raymond Park (at Lake Street and Chicago Avenue) and Oldberg Park (along Clark Street between Orrington and Sherman avenues).

The accessible playground at Raymond Park could be relocated to a corner of the park, said Kirk Bishop of Duncan Associates, creating a great lawn for public enjoyment and even a music or cultural venue. He said the recommendation came from input from young professionals in the downtown area who like to use Raymond Park at lunchtime.

The consultants suggest physically expanding Oldberg Park by closing Clark Street between Sherman and Orrington avenues and removing the parking to Elgin Road (see Oct. 31 issue of the RoundTable). They also said they felt there would be enough parking along Elgin Road for the Clark Street business strip.

Ann Dienner, a member of the City's Preservation Commission, said, "I like the idea of little parks." She asked who would care for the expanded parks. "The main concern I have is who is going to take care of them. They begin well laid out and then they turn into nasty, tatty, ratty locations." She suggested volunteer garden groups might be willing to take on the task. At present, the six garden clubs of Evanston maintain public plantings at the Civic Center, in Oldberg Park, along Central Street and at Lighthouse Beach, among other places.

The plan also suggested turning two surface parking lots into public parks or green spaces, if conditions permitted: the public parking lot behind the Library and the privately owned gravel lot at Grove Street and Oak Avenue now used for McGaw YMCA parking.

Wayne Wertenberger said he opposed the idea of making the Library parking lot into a public park. "We're trying to get our kids educated and if there's no parking there, people might think it's too much trouble to take their kids to the library - and just keep dumbin' them up."

Fountain Square
John LaMotte of the Lakota Group presented two options for Fountain Square, one of which would make use of much collateral open space at the Davis/Orrington/Sherman intersection. By filling in Orrington Avenue between the Chandler Plaza and the small boulevard island that divides Orrington Avenue from Sherman Avenue and incorporating public art in the Chase Bank Plaza just east of Fountain Square, Evanston would have a plaza that seems to encompass a wider downtown area, he said.

The plan does a great job of bringing Fountain Square back to the center of downtown -- Tim Angell

Under the consultants' alternate plan, the City would acquire and then demolish Fountain Square building, just north of the present plaza. The newly created [plaza] space, would be incorporated to create an expanded Fountain Square. Mr. Klutznick and Mr. Anderson have suggested that Fountain Square could be rehabbed at City expense using the tax increment from their retail-residence tower. The entire block is in a tax-increment financing (TIF) district, and the City is permitted to use the tax increment to finance public projects.

"The [708 Church] developers have made it clear," Commission member Colleen Burrus reminded the audience, "that they will put no money into improving Fountain Square."

Evanston resident Tim Angell, himself a municipal planner, said, "In my mind Fountain Square isn't the center of downtown. The plan does a great job of bringing it back to the center."

Leonard Evans said he was concerned about the wind there." If the development process continues downtown, you may have a beautiful square that no one uses because of the wind."

Ms. Dienner asked, "There are war memorials in Fountain Square. How do you plan to memorialize them?"

Mr. LaMotte said the plan suggests either improve the location of the memorials at Fountain Square or moving them to a better location.

Pedestrian environment and business climate
To have a pedestrian-friendly environment in the downtown area, the developers recommend that storefronts have large glass windows and other amenities that attract shoppers.

Lucia Miller said she felt sidewalks and open space were critical to downtown. 'I would like to see sidewalks [have room enough] for at least three abreast, and when restaurants have tables outside, they should be able to take up only half of the sidewalk." She also thought setbacks should be required for the upper stories of buildings more than two stories high.

Some audience members said they felt the proposed plan, with its added height and density throughout the downtown area would put smaller "mom-and-pop" businesses at a disadvantage and attract only the chain or "big box" stores.

Mr. LaMotte pointed to two places in the plan drawn specifically with small businesses in mind: the alley between Clark and Church streets where Bookman's Alley bookstore is located and the west side of Benson Avenue.

Incorporate the old Varsity Theatre into the renovation of the Bookman's Alley alley. -- Jenny Holdberg

The plan suggests small commercial kiosks along Benson Avenue and additional shops in the Bookman's Alley alley. Murals, public art and other adornments would make it pedestrian friendly, he said, adding that the alley could still be used by vehicles during the day but be closed at night.

Travis Marlette, owner of The Things We Love in downtown Evanston, said he "loved the Bookman's Alley concept as long as we don't build it up as the place to stick independent merchants." He said he felt the former plan was not successful in fostering independent retail. "Since the 1990s we have a net of only 14 new businesses. This represents a loss of 11 apparel stores, 8 home decorating stores and a net growth of restaurants and service businesses."

Jenny Holbert said, "One of the goals [of the plan] is to encourage culture ... but I haven't seen anything that would encourage culture." She suggested that the Varsity Theatre, which is said to be almost intact above the Design Within Reach and the Gap could be incorporated into the alley renovation there.

Parking and circulation
The City will begin a multi-modal transportation study within the next few months, but preliminarily the planners discussed parking and circulation. "Circulation is a good name for it," one audience member suggested, "because you drive and drive around town looking for a parking space."

One proposal, to make some of the one-way streets into two-way streets, did not have a favorable reception. "I'm concerned you'll create problems in downtown Evanston," said Dick Whittaker.

"Look at the way people swerve across Benson Avenue to park," said Ann Head. "Having two-way traffic on those other streets would create more havoc and injury."

Divergent opinions were expressed about the sufficiency of downtown parking. KLOA officials said they conducted a "parking sufficiency" study in several downtown high-rises this summer.

They found the parking-space need overall was less than 1.25 spaces per resident. Based on that, Mr. LaMotte said, the consultants would recommend a change in the requirements for downtown residential developments. Rather than base the requirements on bedrooms as is done now, the consultants would have the parking requirements based on floor area.

Several community members questioned the validity of the one-night study and opposed the recommendations.

Valerie Kretchmer, a former member of the Plan Commission, said, "I hate to see parking be at the dictation of how tall a building can be." She acknowledged the need to encourage the use of transit. Stamata Blanas, who lives and works in downtown Evanston said, "I question the feasibility of someone living downtown and having only one parking space."

Mr. LaMotte said, "We've also had people say, on Central Street, for example, there should be no parking - 'make people use transit.'"

Others felt there is still not sufficient parking for patrons of downtown businesses. "My customers are leaving town," said Mr. Marlette. "We have to watch the meter-feeders. ... The parking garages are not working - they are overbuilt, and we're paying the price."

Development framework and implementation strategies
The consultants' development framework subdivides the downtown periphery into RD-1, RD-2 and RD-3, with suggested height limitations for each section. Developers would be able to exceed that height by a certain amount by providing certain public benefits.

"Asking what Evanston can handle is not the right question. Ask the question, 'What is good for Evanston?'"
-- Jeff Smith

Many residents who spoke did not favor the added height and density.
Chris Westerberg said, "I don't understand why you have different heights for the transitional zones. ... I would like you to reconsider the height of the transitional zones, especially to the east."

Peter Sanchez said he believed the plan "will lead to increased density. This will lead to more cars, more aggressive driving, more honking, more police presence, more traffic, noise, pollution and greater demands on City services. ... Are we really in such an economic crisis that we would fritter away our quality of life?"

Vito Brugliera said one of his interests is in preserving buildings. "The most economical and greenest use of a building is its reuse."

"I agree," said Jeff Smith of the Central Street Neighbors Association. "The greenest building is one that is already built." He said he felt the three downtown zones "are good. There are a lot of good observations here, and even some downzoning, but on the whole [downtown] is up-zoned. He presented a map that showed that in almost all the new zones proposed by the consultants additional building height was recommended.

Mr. Smith continued, "Asking what Evanston can handle is not the right question. Ask the question, 'What is good for Evanston?'"
The next Plan Commission hearing on the downtown plan is scheduled for Nov. 27. Copies of the plan are available at the Civic Center, the libraries and online at www.evanstonroundtable.com and cityofevanston.org.

Change One Light Bulb for Peace

Replacing even one incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) can have a substantial impact on the planet, and two congregations in the Evanston Interreligious Sustainability Circle have pledged to make the switch.

Members of Beth Emet Free Synagogue and St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Church are competing in "Let There Be Light," a challenge to replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs.

According to the EPA, if every American home replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an ENERGY STAR-qualified CFL, enough energy would be saved to light more than three million homes and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.

The enlightened will be counting the number of incandescent bulbs in their homes or apartments and the number pledged to be changed to CFLs, then the congregations will calculate the percentage of CFLs installed.

Percy Bell, chairman of Beth Emet's environmental committee, said his congregation issued the (environmentally) friendly challenge as part of the synagogue's year-long campaign to improve the environment. The contest also stems from the Illinois Interfaith Power and Light Campaign, he added, which has over 300 congregations devoted to conservation. Members can get up to a 10 percent discount on the website, faithandplace.org, Mr. Bell said, which offers a wider variety of CFLs than the major retail stores. The winner will be announced around Earth Day in April 2008.