Evanston planning committee ties 3-3 on two vacation-rental license applications; forwards neutral recommendation to council

At its April 28 meeting, the Evanston Planning and Development Committee deadlocked 3-3 on PD 1, a request to approve vacation-rental licenses for 1726 Emerson Street and the coach house at 1839 Darrow Avenue, and forwarded the item to the full City Council with a neutral recommendation.

The committee had no members of the public signed up to speak on the item. Council Member Nussbaum moved to approve the vacation-rental licenses; Council Member Wynne seconded the motion. A committee member reported that Council Member Burns, whose ward includes the addresses, said Burns supports moving the applications forward.

During a roll-call vote the committee initially recorded multiple ayes and two nos. A member then requested reconsideration during the roll call and one vote was changed, producing a 3-3 tie; the chair said the tie resulted in a neutral recommendation from the committee and the item will go to the full City Council for final action.

The committee took no separate policy action on the licenses; the tie meant no committee approval or denial was adopted. The committee record does not identify which member changed a vote during roll call.

The two properties named in PD 1 are 1726 Emerson Street and the coach house at 1839 Darrow Avenue. The committee did not take public comment on the item and made no assignments for further study prior to forwarding the matter to council.