Committee backs special-use permit for religious institution and banquet hall at 1702 Sherman Avenue

The Evanston Planning and Development Committee voted to forward Ordinance 54-O-25 to city council, granting a special-use permit for a religious institution and a banquet hall at 1702 Sherman Avenue. Planning staff told the committee the Land Use Commission had issued a unanimous recommendation in favor of the special-use permit. Zoning staff explained the application was processed to include both the religious use and a banquet hall because the submitted plans showed frequent events, and staff wanted to ensure the uses were properly reviewed under the special-use process. "Given that, based on their plan and what they submitted, it seemed as though they were going to be having frequent events in the banquet hall, and it just made sense for us to process them both through the special use process," a zoning planner explained. Council members asked whether the banquet-hall use could continue independently if the religious institution later ceased to operate at the site; the zoning planner confirmed that, depending on the permit language, the banquet-hall use could persist on its own. The committee took a roll-call vote and approved the ordinance to send to the full council; Director Flax noted the unanimous recommendation from the Land Use Commission and offered staff to answer questions. No public objections were recorded during the committee discussion.