In 2009, the Evanston City Council approved a new Downtown Plan to guide development in Evanston. Since December 2009, the Zoning Committee of the Plan Commission has worked with City Zoning staff to translate Downtown Plan recommendations into appropriate legal zoning language. The Committee was originally scheduled to complete its draft by the end of April 2010, although work on a draft for a proposed City Code amendment may take longer.
As many Southeast Evanston residents remember, the Downtown Plan includes provisions that would allow for a 35-story building at the corner of Church and Orrington. Apart from that controversial project, the Plan also proposes new guidelines for building height and density in the main downtown areas, identified as core, traditional, and transitional areas.
The new Downtown Plan is based on a recent concept in urban development known as "form-based" zoning. In traditional zoning law, city administrators focus primarily on building use - whether retail, industrial or residential. Zoning codes allow communities to ensure that uses with impact on traffic and noise are restricted to certain areas: for example, codes may limit the number of convenience stores, nail salons, and restaurants near residential neighborhoods.
In contrast to focus on building use, form-based zoning focuses primarily on the physical forms of buildings. With such a focus, new development is guided by the forms and masses of proposed buildings. Any proposal for new construction is assessed in relation to its environment of existing buildings and existing scales and types of streets and blocks. When adopted, form-based zoning codes include regulations on everything from acceptable architectural materials and quality, to landscaping and parking standards. An advantage of form-based zoning code is that it can state clearly what a community wants, not simply what it does not want. The challenge is to write a code that provides specific standards that are also congruent with the types of buildings a community wishes to be approved.
In Evanston's case, Zoning Code standards are of specific concern, because form-based codes typically do not provide public review of or public hearings for proposed buildings, as long as building proposals meet Code guidelines. While at present unique to the downtown area, form-based zoning guidelines could eventually be extended to other areas, such as Chicago Avenue. SEA Board members are following the progress of the Downtown Plan through Zoning, and will continue to keep members and residents apprised of issues.
