You are specially invited to an early-stage planning session for what may lead to a new Comprehensive Plan for Evanston. This is your last opportunity to chime in for what has been called Phase I:
Envision Evanston 2045 Input Session
Tuesday, May 7
7:30 pm
2715 Hurd Ave. (the former church)
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What’s a Comprehensive Plan? Under Illinois law, many Illinois towns of Evanston’s size periodically craft longer-range plans both to set goals and as touchstones against which to evaluate development proposals and requests for variance from zoning and code. Evanston’s current plan, adopted in 2000, was the work of a large citizen committee chaired by an Evanston architect and including many with planning and community involvement.
What’s up with our plan? Although Evanston’s layout, transit lines, and total population have not changed greatly since 2000, the City has started a process designed to result in a new Comprehensive Plan, and hired an engineering firm to manage the process, called Envision Evanston 2045. The first phase is some broad input sessions to gather general thinking about Evanston. However, behind scenes some are lobbying for dramatic amendment to existing zoning that supports and protects family housing and the cosmopolitan suburban conditions for which people move to Evanston.
A few weeks ago, Councilmembers Suffredin and Revelle arranged for a joint Envision Evanston session for the 6th and 7th wards they represent. CSNA thanks them for that initiative. However, the session was held in the 5th Ward, at the Civic Center, and the process's online participation option, held out as an alternative to in-person, reportedly had glitches. CSNA believes it's important to have an input session actually held in the 6th or 7th Wards, where nearly 1 in 4 Evanstonians reside. So we're hosting our own, and thank the planners for affording this chance.
Please come Tuesday evening and bring your best ideas about Evanston!
Mark your calendar, and in the meantime feel free to take the Envision Evanston survey.