Plans to build 19 townhomes and 12 apartment units on an abandoned rail line just west of Green Bay Road cleared the first hurdle in Evanston’s planned development review process this week.
The Wesley Court project, from developer John Cleary of Temp Capital Inc., would see the townhome units sold as condos while the apartments would be rental units.
The plans call for creating a private drive from the end of Wesley Avenue that would run behind the townhomes, providing access to their garages, and connect to an extension of Jackson Avenue at the west side of the development site.
Cleary told the Design and Project Review Committee on Tuesday that since their last look at the project last month he had added more than a dozen visitor parking spaces to the site and had agreed to provide two of the three required affordable housing units for the development off-site on a vacant lot at 1740 Dodge Ave.
Community Development Director Johanna Nyden said that while the walkway through the development would be private property, it should not be posted with “no trespassing” signs and that it should be understood that children walking to and from schools in the area would likely use the walkway.
The next step for the development is review by the Land Use Commission. That’s tentatively scheduled for the commission’s meeting on July 14.
Related story: 31 homes planned around old railbed (5/16/22)
I question the plan to have units facing Greenbay road.
And the rest of them will be facing what? Plan commission usually looks hard at successful projects, but goes easy on future losers.