Land Use Commission withholds recommendation for 605 Davis Street tower after lengthy hearing on ownership, parking, wind and environmental impacts

The Evanston Land Use Commission voted 4–3 Aug. 27 to send a negative recommendation to City Council on the proposed plan development for 605 Davis Street, a multi‑tower, mixed‑use project that would add hundreds of dwelling units to downtown Evanston.

The hearing — continued from July and reopened for a series of invited continuance speakers — drew hours of testimony from nearby residents, traffic and parking consultants, attorneys, and the applicant team. Objections focused on four principal areas: (1) the legal structure and the developer’s proposed transfer of floor‑area ratio (FAR) from an adjacent parcel (the “university building”) that opponents said was not a proper transfer under the planned‑development rules; (2) traffic, parking and the project’s proposed approach to on‑site and off‑site parking; (3) wind effects and shadow/comfort impacts on Fountain Square and a neighboring daycare rooftop playground; and (4) overall scale relative to the block’s context.

Ownership and FAR transfer: Attorney Jeff Smith and neighborhood attorney Steven Miskowitz argued that the application relied on a novel “zoning control agreement” and a transfer of FAR from an adjacent property that, they said, did not satisfy the zoning code’s single‑ownership or single‑control requirement for planned developments (Evanston Zoning Ordinance §6‑3‑6‑4).…