Legislative Alert in Evanston: City Council to vote on "gateway" project with little or no input (includes garden center)

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Debbie Hillman

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Jul 24, 2017, 2:04:17 PM7/24/17
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Hi, all —

I don’t  know how many AUA members are in Evanston, but I just learned about this vote that is going to be taken tonight (Monday, July 24) on a multi-use project that has had almost no public process (and that is still in the design process).  The project consists of housing, small retail, plus a garden center.  One of the partners is Chicago-based Peterson Garden Project.


MEDIA account.  Here are the two relevant news accounts from Evanston Now:
1.  Tonight’s vote:  

Aldermen to vote on Chicago Avenue 'gateway’ project
Evanston aldermen tonight are scheduled to vote on spending nearly $3 million in city funds toward a $7.8 million project to redevelop the blighted stretch of Chicago Avenue just north of Howard Street.

2.  First media announcement of the project  (June 29, 2017)


BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
Over the last 5-10 years, the City of Evanston has had an increasingly questionable allegiance to public process, especially around projects that get proposed as “economic development” and that want subsidies from the City.

The worst case that I have seen is this one, which has taken less than a month to develop a public presence.  The project was proposed at a committee hearing on June 28, 2017 and tonight (July 24, 2017) it is going to a vote before the full council.   There have been no public meetings on this project.

The project involves a food-and-farm component (a garden center to be called City Grange) and a valued partner in the Chicago food-and-farm arena (Peterson Garden Project).  Unfortunately, I am afraid that this fast-tracking process might give a bad name to all -- the arena of food-and-farm justice as well as the individual project and promoter.


CONTACTING MY ALDERMAN:  When I heard that this project was coming to a vote and that the developers were asking for nearly $3 million of City money, I emailed my alderman (Don Wilson, 4th ward):

How is this project coming to a vote already?  What did I miss in the public process?

Concerns that I have:
1.  Did the City ask for proposals for this area?   If so, when?
2.  Did the City advertise the availability of nearly $3 million?  If so, when?
2.  Did the developers just invite themselves to make a presentation?    Why is the City giving a separate hearing to every economic “development” project or every request for a city handout?

I hope you will vote “no” and/or suggest a delay.  Not only is this a questionable project, but the public process seems to have been almost zero.

If I’m missing something, I hope you’ll let me know.


Within a few minutes, my alderman called me back and said:
— I was not missing anything in the way of public process 
— he is planning to vote “no”


BETTER PUBLIC PROCESSES?  He also told me that it has become his personal policy in the 4th ward that when developers of big projects want to talk to him about a new project, he suggests that the developers first hold a public meeting (which Don attends).  This has happened three times in recent history.  In my opinion, this saves a LOT of time that officials would normally waste having private meetings about all sorts of proposed projects.

This is what I mean by Food + Farms + Democracy.


EVANSTON ACTION:  If you are an Evanston resident and you are concerned about public process on a food-and-farm project (or any project), please call your alderman and say so.   Whether this is a good project or not, I cannot say for sure (although I do have some questions based on the description in the June 29 news account).  The public has not had the opportunity to (a) look at it, (b) reflect on it, or (c) discuss it.   


— Debbie



Debbie Hillman
Evanston, Illinois

FOOD, FARMS & DEMOCRACY
Getting specific about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness


Debbie Hillman

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Jul 25, 2017, 4:03:58 PM7/25/17
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Advocates for Urban Agriculture (Greater Chicago - 2300+ members)
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Don Wilson - 4th ward alderman, City of Evanston
Other Evanston “food, farms, and/or democracy” folks

Hi, all —

Here is an update on the Evanston “gateway project” (Howard and Chicago Ave.) that was voted on last night (with almost no public input):
http://evanstonnow.com/story/real-estate/bill-smith/2017-07-25/78016/aldermen-reject-affordable-housing-deal 

Thanks to my alderman (Don Wilson, 4th ward) and one other alderman (Thomas Suffredin, 6th ward) for voting against this project.  As you can see from the article (despite the headline), the basic project was approved, including the “organic garden center”.

In addition to the fact that there has been almost no public input on this project, here are some other problems that relate to the project, from the Food + Farms + Democracy perspective:


EVANSTON PUBLIC PROCESS
1.  According to the article, the Economic Development staff knew about this project for “seven months” and were working with the developers on it.  Why didn’t they invite Evanston residents and businesses into the conversation?

2.  According to Ald. Wilson (via phone yesterday), projects that arise out of the Economic Development Department of Evanston are somehow able to avoid the PUD (Planned Unit Development) process that is the law for large, multi-use projects that ask for variances or extra City involvement (such as requests for City $$).  When was this exemption approved and when did the public conversation take place about this fast tracking of certain projects?

3.  The article states that the primary developer (David Brown) cited an August 1 deadline for the purchase of part of the property.
Given the size of the project, the location of the project, and the lack of public input all along the way, this is either (a) fear-mongering, or (b) a threat, neither of which is appropriate in working relationships or public process.


There are a number of other red flags about the lack of public process, which I will take up with the City of Evanston and fellow Evanston adults. 

In terms of food-and-farm projects, there are a number of red flags about the garden center proposal:


FOOD-AND-FARM PROJECTS
1.  "For-profit social enterprise" is an oxymoron (no matter what the IRS says), especially if you’re asking for public $$ and time and technical assistance from public officials (elected and staff).  Existing similar businesses that have served this area for a long time (or even a short time without public $$) might object.   Businesses that come to mind are Gethsemane, Anton’s, Cultivate, the new retail store by Green Edens (an established landscape company).

2.  Peterson Garden Project has a recent and nearby history of not working with a given community on a project, e.g., the Howard street community garden project on the Chicago side, where many long-term community activists were ignored and the community was not involved in the planning, etc. (according to two informal accounts).  Given that justice, democracy, inclusion, etc., are core values of the 21st century food-and-farm movement and that Peterson Garden Project has been part of that movement in Chicago for a number of years, this is a problem.  (I might also add that justice, democracy, and inclusion have been promoted as core values of the U.S. since 1776.)

3.  It is not clear whether the “organic garden center” is going to be organically certified.  Given the extreme sensitivity to the use of the word “organic” in the food-and-farm movement (because of numerous hyper-current issues with the National Organic Standards Board), clarity in messaging is important.  Are there any USDA certified organic garden centers?  (If the reporter did not report accurately, I’m happy to do some legwork on that account.)   


MOVING FORWARD  
Early this morning, I was privately contacted by the Peterson Garden Project to talk about the proposed project.  I have turned down the invitation for “coffee" (for obvious reasons).  

In addition, since the project has now been approved, I suggested to PGP:
— one or more public meetings hosted by the developers, including Peterson Garden Project (I recommended at the very least one in Evanston, one in Chicago — or at least one joint meeting)
— that any public meeting(s) that are held about this project be posted on the AUA listserv (in addition to the appropriate Evanston and Chicago community outlets)


I know that these are difficult survival times for many of us (including myself).   But every aspect of these difficult times is entirely human-created — more to the point, aided, abetted, and exacerbated by U.S. public policy — for which we are all responsible.  And every aspect of the disfunction has to do with exclusion of people in decisions that affect our lives.   “Representative” democracy is no longer an acceptable method of making decisions that affect all of us (if it ever was).  Grassroots democracy is the only thing worth holding onto at this point.  (In my opinion.)
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