Evanston staff interview consultants for zoning-ordinance rewrite; recommendation to council set for July 13

Liz Williams, the city's planning manager, opened the procurement interview and told attendees the session was being recorded and "subject to disclosure, under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act." She said city staff expects to submit a recommendation to the City Council on July 13 and that the council packet is expected to be released publicly on July 9.

Chris Corey, vice president at McKenna, led a presentation of the firm's proposal to conduct a full technical review and rewrite of Evanston's zoning ordinance. McKenna described an iterative process of technical review, policy papers, an annotated outline and draft ordinances, with checkpoint gates for staff and commission review. Donovan Smith, identified as McKenna's proposed project manager, said the team would map and consolidate districts, reconcile frequent requests for zoning relief, and produce both draft regulatory text and supporting graphics for public outreach.

The consultant team emphasized that staff, commissions and the public would have extended review opportunities. McKenna said the firm's materials and platform will be used to present comparison documents, FAQs and scenario testing; the presenters committed to turning over interactive tools to city staff for long-term use. Williams closed the session by thanking the team and reiterating the July timeline for a staff recommendation.