Albion Tower, Lakehouse Plan Approved By Evanston City Council

EVANSTON, IL — In a contentious City Council meeting Monday night that at times descended into shouting and heckling, Evanston aldermen voted in favor of building a 15-story mixed-use tower on Sherman Avenue, moving forward with plans to lease the Harley Clarke mansion to a nonprofit group and settling a workplace discrimination lawsuit against a former director.

An overflow crowd was on hand at the Evanston City Council chambers Monday night, and with 82 speakers signed up for public comment, a lightning round of 30-second speeches ensued.

Most comments related to the Evanston Lakehouse and Garden proposal to operate the Harley Clarke mansion as public-private partnership and the scheduled vote on a proposed 15-story rental and commercial development at 1450 Sherman Ave.

By a roughly 3-1 margin, speakers opposed the development and approved the leasing of the mansion.

In other comments, two members of the Evanston Police Department's victim's services staff spoke against the elimination of their positions as part of moves to close the city's budget shortfall. And a pair of AFSCME workers notified the council they had filed a labor complaint over the city's handling of its mandatory Nov. 10 furlough day, which was also a money-saving measure.

Harley Clarke

After public comments concluded and the consent agenda was approved, aldermen voted 8-1 to direct the city manager to prepare a contract with the Evanston Lakefront and Gardens group, the only one that responded to the city's request for proposals earlier this year. It will be up for review and final approval in January. The main concern expressed by skeptics of the plan is a worry that the newly-formed group may not meet fundraising goals. Its supporters assured the council that the philanthropic pockets of the Evanston community are deep.

Settlement

The council then voted 6-3 to approve a $500,000 settlement with the city's former director of public works, who sued in federal court alleging racial discrimination against City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz.

"Obviously making a decision to settle litigation is not something one would want to do, particularly given our financial circumstances, but there are situations where you have to make a business decision," said Ald. Don Wilson, 4th Ward. He said the decision was made in order to be responsible with taxpayer money rather than trying to prove a point and win in court.

Ald. Ann Rainey, 8th Ward, affirmed her belief that neither Bobkiewicz, nor any other member of the city's senior staff, discriminated against the former director on the basis of race or gender. But, she warned, plaintiff Suzette Robinson would "go after the Evanston taxpayer for every last penny she can bleed out of us."

"However, I think at some point a person – and maybe even the city at some point – has to stand up to this kind of action," she said.

Rainey voted against the settlement, along with Ald. Tom Suffredin, 6th Ward, and Ald. Cicely Fleming, 9th Ward, who was the lone vote against the Lakehouse project.

Albion

Discussion shifted to the proposed 15-story, 273-unit development for at 1450-1508 Sherman Ave. to be built by Albion Residential.

Wilson said the council continues to make decisions that have an impact on the affordability of housing in Evanston. Increasing the supply of residential units will help slow rapidly rising rents.

"It's important for us to protect what we have, but at the same time its important for us to not inadvertently harm the people around us. Putting a building on an empty lot – or effectively an empty lot – is not running anyone out of town. That's just not true," Wilson said. "Remember econ class from high school? You have to get enough supply so the prices stabilize or those prices will continue to escalate."

Rainey explained how every new project has greeted with great dismay and opposed, citing Optima Towers and Sherman Plaza.

"That was going to the be the end of life as we know it," she recalled. "We all survived it, and the same is going to be with this building."

One of the opponents of the project tried to interrupt Rainey's remarks.

"You know what? Why don't you be quiet," Rainey admonished. "Your mother would just—"

Mayor Steve Hagerty demanded order and asked the audience member to refrain from her outbursts.

"These people are ruing your chances for a discussion...I've had a lifetime history working on housing, and they've cut me off," Rainey said, crumpling up her notes.

"We can't continue to have this kind of pitched, ferocious battle in our community," said Ald. Melissa Wynne, 3rd Ward, decrying the ad-hoc zoning process that forces citizens to become experts in zoning code. "We need to dial back the level of anger and fury and vitriol."

"It has been disheartening to me, as a lifetime Evanstonian, to hear this conversation," said Fleming. "To hear that this building it the epitome of white supremacy and this building is why black people don't live here, you know, I'm a black person, and I know black people who don't live here and I know black people who are moving." She said a much bigger factor in the displacement of Evanston's black community is rising property taxes, including the increase associated with this year's District 65 referendum.

"More of them are moving because of the referendum that has spiked everyone's property taxes than because of Albion...that has nothing to do with the Albion building," Fleming said. "We definitely have some affordability things we need to work on, but it's really frustrating to hear people who genuinely care about affordability and diversity to get steering into thinking all of that is on this one building."

Ald. Judy Fiske, 1st Ward, expressed concern that developers may be adding an overcapacity of residential units in the downtown area. She said she felt sympathy with those in attendance who had come to voice concerns with the city's zoning policies.

Fiske said it would be important to make the zoning code actually mean something to provide clarity to residents. She expressed concern that the city has not fully agreed upon what the "public benefits" of the project would be, as the list provided was not deemed satisfactory. She said more clarity and transparency in the process was needed, "so it doesn't appear we're just flying by the seat of our pants on these things."

Ald. Robin Rue Simmons, 5th Ward, discussed alleviating the only area of Evanston that has been designated a food desert by setting up a "freight farm" shipping container to produce fresh food, a suggestion that was included as part of the final plan.

Speaking of other possible new public benefits developers could provide, Rainey mentioned the idea of a city-wide program by which the developers would to sponsor an artistic trip for every seventh grade class in District 65 for the next several years as a more worthy public good than the $50,000 contribution to the city's public art fund included in the proposal. She moved to leave the "identification of [other] public benefits blank for the time being," and fill in the specifics at a later date.

"We need to move this along, there's issues with having to do with financing et cetera, that have nothing to do with whether or not the developer can identify what those public benefits are, but to leave the dollar amount in there," Rainey said, as Ald. Peter Braithwaite, 2nd Ward, seconded her. "Because for us to protract this any longer is ridiculous."

"The deliberation has occurred." Hagerty informed the increasingly unruly crowd, asking opponents of the development to stop shouting at the council. "This is democracy. Everyone up here is elected by everyone in Evanston."

The City Council then voted 5-4 in favor of the development, with Braithwaite, Rainey, Simmons, Suffredin and Wilson voting yes. Voting no: Fiske, Fleming, Revelle and Wynne. After the vote, several opponents of the plan disrupted the meeting, shouting at the mayor and members of the council.

Aldermen took one more vote, approving the mayor's appointments to a new sub-committee to tackle the issue of affordable housing by a vote of 8-1.

Bobkiewicz suggested delaying further discussions of budget matters until next Monday shortly after 11 p.m. to allow the council to have time to go into closed session to discuss a labor issue. Alderman approved of the notion and went into executive session around 11:15 p.m.

_{Top photo: Artist rendering of earlier version of proposed 1450 Sherman Ave. development | Courtesy Albion Residential}