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The Wilmette Village Board will vote next month on a resolution to object to zoning changes in Evanston that would benefit the rebuild of Northwestern University’s Ryan Field.
Wilmette Village President Senta Plunkett announced to a packed room at the July 25 Village Board meeting that the board has plans to vote on the resolution at its Aug. 8 meeting.
Residents, many of whom live immediately north of the Ryan Field complex at the edge of Wilmette and Evanston, have asked the village to take a stand against the proposed $800 million stadium rebuild on July 11. They have expressed concerns about the university’s plans to direct sound north from the proposed 10 concerts that would be hosted a year at the new field.
Plunkett said she and other members of the board received over 200 emails about the issue.
“We understand your concerns. We share your concerns,” she said.
Wilmette residents aren’t the only ones with complaints. The rebuild has for months stirred up controversy, which only grew following the multiple hazing scandals emerging from the football, baseball, softball, women’s volleyball and cheerleading teams in the past month.
Plunkett told the crowd she has been in multiple meetings with representatives from Evanston as well as Northwestern and has future plans to meet with Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and 7th Ward Alderperson Eleanor Revelle. She also plans to present the resolution to the Evanston Planning and Development Committee and City Council.
Wilmette Village Attorney Michael Braiman said the village is waiting on the third-party sound and traffic studies commissioned by Evanston, which he has been told would likely be completed this week.
“Until we see those reports and we see who performed those reports and their qualifications, it’s difficult for us to speak confidently as to that,” he said. “If we do need to consider additional studies initiated by the village, we are willing to do so.”
Wilmette resident Eric Weiss criticized the village’s sit-and-wait method, saying a passive approach isn’t the way to go.
Steve Harper, a Wilmette resident who lives just northwest of the stadium complex, called the university a bully at the July 25 Village Board meeting and said the plan causes an “existential threat” to the village.
“Imagine a teenagers booming bass car speakers blasting outside your home for hours,” Harper said. “The performance venue masquerading as a part time college football stadium will destroy Wilmette’s quality of life. Northwestern ignores it.”
Some residents questioned the validity of the Northwestern provided traffic and noise study. Michael Kvasnicka said Wilmette can’t rely on Evanston to bring in adequate experts for its own study.
Another concern surrounds the parking for proposed concerts which, according to Wilmette resident Paul Nowicki, could see 6,000 cars coming into the area looking for a place to park. He referenced the Northwestern traffic study that assumed half of concertgoers would use public transit calling it “wildly optimistic.”
“Having drunken concertgoers wandering through our neighborhood late at night after concerts searching for their cars is simply not acceptable to Ryan Field neighbors,” he said. “We need to make it clear to Evanston and Northwestern that event parking will not be permitted in Wilmette.”
One resident spoke in favor of the plan. John Powers said he believes the job potential and money it would bring into the area would be worth it.
“I’m 100% in favor of a manageable event day and I think we need to work on the process to make things work rather than just saying ‘no way to possibly manage this,’” he said. “Of course there’s ways to manage this … This isn’t all that complicated.”
Resident Richard Levy said the village should consider litigation if the university goes forward with its plans.
“We know what big concerts bring,” Levy said. “They bring drunkenness, drugs, lewd behavior, petty crime and — invariably — public health damages and quality of life damages.”
