2019 August 7 - Plan Commission 

See below: 2019 August 7 Plan Commission PDF (only re. NU Text amendment issue). 

8/7/19   Agenda     Minutes    Actions    Packet    Video

See below: A copy of just the minutes of the 2019 August 7 PC (only re. NU text amendment issue). You can also read them on p7-p11 of : Minutes

Updated (2021) transcription of the 2019 August 7 Plan Commission meeting, re. NU Text Amendment proposal

YouTube City video: 2:29:38 to 3:46:07)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkNaXbsns0k

Below see in bold some of the above transcripts passages. Spotlight wants to point out several problems, contradictions and inaccuracies on the part of the Commission or NU, in the August 7 PC meeting, particularly vis-a-vis what was said in later meetings.

Two examples: NU states in this meeting that the 7-day events will only have a daily attendance of 1,500,  whereas in their later power point it swelled to 2,500.  The different number affects the income projections presented at the subsequent City meetings.

Also notice the lengthy attempt by the Commission to nullify the resident's legal request to continue the meeting to another date.

2:40:56

Commissioner Halik: Have professional events been allowed under the current wording?

M. Jones: Not under the current wording. There have been events in the past. I believe, it’s been more decades ago. I know in the 70’s, the Bears played one of their games on Campus or I think within Welsh Ryan Arena. I don’t think it was named that at the time, and then also there was a concert that was held but I don’t believe it had permission at the time.

Halik: So, concerts would be a professional event that would be allowed under this.

M. Jones: With the conditions that are stated.

Halik: Yeah, with the -

Chairman: Commissioner Isaac:

2:41: 54

Isaac: So, for a temporary event with an attendance cap at 7,000, we are not talking about Ryan Field.

M. Jones: No.

Isaac: We’re talking about Welsh Ryan

M. Jones: Essentially.

Isaac: Or, to the extent, there’s a lot of people that want to watch baseball or softball, but we’re really talking about Welsh, Welsh Ryan Arena. And the chart of uses under current ordinance that you provided, those are all under the, those are all basically fall under the permitted use, right? None of these, none of these items listed are any of the temporary events that are being proposed?

M. Jones: Right, that’s right.

...

Isaac: OK, thank and my, my final question: there is, there is a phrase in the existing, in the existing ordinance that is not being modified, and that’s intended primarily for residents of the City, that the events are intended primarily for the residents of the City. I don’t, this might be a question better for the applicant, but has there been any discussion on how they would intend to meet that threshold?

M. Jones: I don’t think we’ve had a specific discussion related to that particular aspect of it. That is something that could definitely be considered or discussed.

...

Isaac: OK, thank and my, my final question: there is, there is a phrase in the existing, in the existing ordinance that is not being modified, and that’s intended primarily for residents of the City, that the events are intended primarily for the residents of the City. I don’t, this might be a question better for the applicant, but has there been any discussion on how they would intend to meet that threshold?

M. Jones: I don’t think we’ve had a specific discussion related to that particular aspect of it. That is something that could definitely be considered or discussed.

2:48:44

Goddard: In reducing the number of persons that would attend these events, can that 7,000 be contained in the parking lots on Central Street?

Poliski: We feel very confident that - First of all, with the intent of having concerts the reality is we’ll probably have a capacity of Welsh Ryan Arena closer to 6,000, maybe even a touch less. A lot of it and our, and when we’ve had conversations with our neighbors, they’ve been frustrated. I’m trying not to be coy at all. We just don’t know exactly what’s going to transpire based upon the act, but most acts will necessitate the stage, and a whole bunch of seats kills. So, the reality is, it will be significantly less than 7,000, but we’ll try to have as many people possible. We have 2,000 spots roughly between the east lot and the west lot. Most people who do drive to events come with several people, roughly at least another person. There’s obviously ample public transportation. We have dedicated Uber and Lyft and other ride-sharing services available, and then we certainly hope a lot of people find their way just by walking. We have sold out basketball games consistently over the last decade where I’ve been there, and we have not had a lot of issues. Now I will say one thing, and then the neighbors educated us on this: a lot of our fans, a lot of customers don’t want to pay for parking, and what they want to do instead is they want to park in the neighborhood, which causes significant congestion. We have already expressed to our neighbors that we would be more than willing to open up the lots for free, if that would potentially offset some of the congestion. They then educated us a little bit further that some people still won’t do it because they want to be able to get out early, and not wait for the egress of the lot. But we still think it’s a potential benefit in that particular regard. And then we, one last comment, you talked about ticket tax and amusement tax. There is, there is a difference, and I think I misspoke at the last time I was with the neighbors, just simply because we’ve never really had an amusement tax before. We pay a ticket tax for all our athletic events of 12%, and that is the largest ticket tax in the country. Our amusement tax as it sits today is structured at 4%. We are very happy to sit down and talk about amending that to make it more beneficial to the city.

Chairman: Just tailing on to the parking: you provide shuttle services and remote parking for football events etc. Would you be considering doing that also as part of the ability to provide for the ordinance parking for all the attendees within University property?  

Poliski: We certainly would be open to anything. We don’t believe it will be an issue. As I said, along with a lot of our softball or basketball, we haven’t had that type of a concern from our patrons. Our neighbors might feel otherwise, and we’d be happy to try something out to see if that would alleviate the concern.

2:51:59

Halik: So, just to be, just to understand this, would be and be clear, you’re talking about additional events right, in the calendar year? If, I don’t know how many events you typically have, but with this change there would be additional events. Because I think that’s, that’s, I haven’t heard from the neighbors but that might be one of the issues [short laugh] or it-

Poliski: Well, it certainly is an issue and yes, what we are requesting is the ability to have some additional events beyond what you currently saw there. We are trying to limit those events as we have reduced the number from our original proposal based upon the neighbors’ concerns.

Halik: And how many additional events we -?

Poliski: We ask for six additional events annually plus one multi-event which has been causing a little bit of confusion. Actually, the impetus was, is, the National Tennis League had approached us a while back, maybe it was in December of last year, asking if they can have a Chicago area team that would play seven events during a League, so those would be seven individual days where we maybe we had 1,500 people that would come to Welsh Ryan Arena, you know, to watch a tennis tournament, and we’re talking about pretty prominent names. That’s what we were envisioning on a multi-event basis. We are also very comfortable in amending that to a particular number to make sure that everyone is comfortable with. We’re not looking it as an opportunity to make a break here, and turn something into a 20-day event series. It was just intended specifically for the World Tennis team.

2:53:33

Sloss: Do you have any of the data based on, you know, the basketball games or other previous events on the economic impact on the neighborhood made positively in terms of generation of income for local businesses?

Poliski: I have some really rough numbers, and it’s been kind of a little bit of a running joke, that they don’t understand, the neighbors are confused why I can’t give them specifics. There’s a big difference between Paul McCartney coming and Eddie Vedder coming or if we have an up-and-coming country act, as far as the amount of seats that we would sell, and the tickets that we can charge. But just as an example: if we were to, unless say, we want to go out and we were able to secure, which I have no idea if we’re going to be able to secure substantial types of acts, initially, it might be a little bit of a process but we obviously are only having two years to prove ourselves. But let’s say Paul McCartney comes, and we have 6,000 people that come in, because that’s the capacity with the stage and such, and the average ticket price is $100, so that’s $600,000 that are coming in, and let’s say that we agree on an amendment on the amusement tax, and for simplicity we’ll say it’s 10%, so there’s $60,000 that comes in just from that. Multiply that by six events, hopefully in a similar way, you’re coming in close to $400,000. That’s not including any ancillary events, ancillary taxes that we hope also as part of this, such as the liquor ability to sell within those events, and then, finally, it’s impossible to quantify the benefit to the City, when you have some really good acts coming in, and hopefully we’re bringing in thousands of people during the course of these shows that haven’t been to Evanston before, and they enjoy some restaurants, and they maybe be staying at the hotel. and they do a variety of other things. So, some of that is very hard to determine.

Chairman: Just for clarification, requests for a liquor license, which I understand you don’t currently have, is not part of this request.

Poliski: That’s correct.

Chairman: Right, so that is not an issue for this body. 

2:55:38

Isaac: How many events are held at Ryan Field where you have, let’s say, more than 2,000 attendees?

Poliski: Just our football games currently. We had a really nice Community Picnic and Movie Night last Saturday, I don’t think the number got there, but it was a nice, a nice number, and we have a Meet the Team night where the city is invited and it’s open to the public to meet our football team leading into the season. We also had the Randy Walker Memorial 5-K which the race culminates there. We had 800 some participants this year, so it’s really just our seven football games.

2:56:33

Halik: So, to translate that, this would double the amount of events that are, that are, that cannot be accommodated in the parking lot. If you said that there’s seven, the only events that that are above 2,000, which is the number in the parking lot, are football games, and there’s seven of those, then if there are six more -

Poliski: No, I’m sorry; he was referring to Ryan Field, not Welsh Ryan Arena. That was just for the Ryan Field events.

Halik: Right.

Poliski: Welsh Ryan Arena. We have 18 basketball games that I think we average somewhere in the 6,000-range last year.

Halik: I see.

Chairman: So, this ordinance is technically, I guess I’m going to ask staff this, is technically not discriminating between whether it’s Welsh Ryan Arena or the Stadium. It’s just, it could be either venue just so that the participants are limited to 7,000?

Isaac: Correct. So, within the U2 District, so either the softball facility or the baseball facility, for example, as well.

2:59:06

Isaac: Yeah, sorry I’m doing this piecemeal here. How often are there more than one event, let’s say, that has more than 500 attendees on the, at the, like, athletic campus, is what we’ll call it, right? So, you have baseball, softball, basketball, so Welsh Ryan and Ryan Field. How often are you having events, multiple events in one day? That’s question #1. And then#2: is, is it contemplated that you would have, with you know, with these other events, these temporary events, that you would have multiple events in one day?

Poliski: Ok, let me try from the first, the first thing, is from a football standpoint: whenever we have a football game, we do not have additional events or that’s certainly have been our intent, because we just don’t have the staffing to do it, and we don’t have the bandwidth to do it to have a football game at 2:30 and then a volleyball-match that night. It just generally does not work, so we avoid that at all costs. So, the answer is almost never, I can’t recall one, but I can’t say that it’s never happened. As it relates to events in the Arena, we sometimes have double headers, if you will, at Welsh Ryan Arena where we might have a women’s basketball game at one o’clock, and then maybe a wrestling-meet later that day; sometimes we have had a men’s basketball game and a women’s basketball game on the same day, but separated by a significant amount of hours, and again, it’s generally a really controlled crowd. Our men’s basketball program is the only one that generates a significant enough crowd to, in my opinion, be very concerned about making sure that the infrastructure is handled the right way, and we handle the logistics. We will have a baseball game and a softball game at the same time, but there might be 150 people at the baseball game and 200 people at the softball game, so those things occasionally occur but often times there’s is very little additional traffic, and when you look at the attendance for most of our Olympic sports, they’re pretty moderate.

Isaac: So, with the need for, let’s say, set-up for a concert, something that would have a high attendance, or hopefully a high attendance, you don’t anticipate that you would be having another high attendance event in that same day?

Poliski: No, that would be truly an impossibility based upon just the need for a set up in the speaker systems, and all the infrastructure that goes into it. What would, what would likely occur is that we may have an event, let’s say that we’re going to have a Saturday concert in Welsh Ryan Arena, maybe there’s a Friday night event, and the moment that Friday night event is done then the place is broken down. The crew changes it over to the concert, and then the concert takes place, and they have the sound check and all the things Saturday. So, there’s absolutely no way that there could be a second event until that concert is over.

3:02:00

Halik: One of the issues is parking in the neighborhood. Has Northwestern ever considered, and I realize there are other issues with this, but has Northwestern ever considered a parking garage on their parking lot, that’s to the west?

Audience grumbles

Poliski: The answer is that I’m not sure that the neighbors would like that.

Halik: I realize that there are other issues, I’m just asking.

Poliski: Would we, would we love to have additional parking? We would very much like to have additional parking. We’ve been fortunate enough to work with Canal Shores and the City in the most, you know, most recent five six years to find additional parking for our fans.

Halik: Because I know that for these large events they park in the neighborhood.

Poliski: And they park on Campus and we do the shuttles as was mentioned. We just haven’t had a need to do shuttle service at all for basketball.

3:02:53

Chairman: Ok, Commissioners, any other questions? Alright. So, at this point of, to address the issue: There has been a, we read the standard for the, for request for continuous at the, continuance at the prior, prior hearing. There, there was a request by mail, that I –should- should I read the entire request? Summarize it. Yeah, so, that that basically said that, ask for a consideration on the request for withdrawal that, that showing that the person could not proceed with his or her evidence for the hearing at good cause. The good cause was presented as, as basically that it’s August, and people are on vacation. I, I have to consider this a kind of impossibility or we would be shutting down the, the, the Evanston procedures if that was, if that was a good, a good cause, the, the go on vacation is not necessarily a good reason to say that you would request to determine

Audience protests that they cannot hear

Chairman: Yes, that’s saying that, I’m sorry I wasn’t speaking into the mike, that saying that you are on vacation is not a good cause not be able to speak to the facts presented in the, in the case. But I believe, anyone else at this time could present a request for continuance. OK.

3:05:04

Berg: Hi, I’m Judy Berg, I live at [address], and within 500 feet of the facility, and I hereby object to the applicant’s presentation, and formally request a sufficient continuation, so we can prepare and present evidence to refute the testimony presented today.

Chairman: Alright, can I see the, see the request? OK. Thank you. Is there any specific evidence that you are wishing or, are all? [sniggers]. No evidence, alright. [turns to Commissioner Halik, hands him the petition] Can you please

Voices in audience [unintelligible]

Berg: We have several of them -

Kull [still seated waves petition in the air]: We want to continue because we’ve got two days’ notice. OK.

Voices in audience [unintelligible]: …you only need one -

Chairman: We’ll go case by case, then. So, does this, does this meet the standards?

Attorney: Chair Lewis, it may be beneficial for us to get them all.

Chairman: If you can.

Attorney: If, if one meets the standards -

Chairman: Alright.

Attorney: was just going to grab them all.

Chairman: OK, OK.

Attorney: That way, this is, you know,

Chairman: OK.

Attorney: a one-time shot.

Chairman: So why don’t we go one by one, and if you can please come up sir.

3:06:29

Kull: I’m Gary Kull, of [address]. I’m right on the alley from the facilities, and I request also, because we’ve had less than three days’ notice. In fact, I’ve never gotten notice, and so it’s impossible for me to have prepared or any of these other people to have prepared the type of presentation that these gentlemen had for quite some time. They continue to amend their approaches, so my, my reasoning is: because of a lack of notice and inability to prepare.

Chairman: All right, well I believe we stated that, that, that the hearing was, was, needs, require, requirements for notice, notice, you can give it to me, and we’ll pass it down. But I believe this is just the, this is the same wording as the prior. Is everyone else who is presenting, giving the same wording, the same document? Alright, so there’s no other, other -

Voice in audience [unintelligible]

Chairman: So, so, the -

Kull: He said, ask for all of them.

Chairman: This is going to be the same document. This is, yeah, so -

Kull: And of course, it would be impossible in a three-day period of time to refute some of the conclusions that staff has come to, apparently, in a memo that they’ve disputed. So, we have no choice but to ask for a continuance, and it would seem to me under the rules, you should grant us.

Chairman: Alright.

3:07:57

McFarlane: I’m Laurie McFarlane, at [address]. And I, just for clarification, many of the neighbors here did not see the revised proposal from Northwestern because it was presented Monday night, I guess, at a community meeting, and at that point in time they said they were still revising it. So, many of the neighbors feel that they have specific pieces of evidence regarding property value, regarding the amount of the effect on businesses in the area. There are commercial as well as residential neighbors who want to speak to this, and they have been trying to figure out the parameters of the proposal right up until today. So that is the genesis behind these forms.

Chairman: So, so can you please just write by hand on one of these, what you just said, the specific items so that you’re going to refute? And then, and then I think the standard will be met. Alright, so, yeah, please. [Laughs].

Isaac: In the meantime, we can continue -

Chairman: Right.

Isaac: taking questions from -

Chairman: Yes, so, so, while, while you’re doing that -

Attorney: Chair Le, Chair Le, Chair Lewis, may I quickly? Just, just so, everyone’s focused on the rules in the law. What your rule is, is under article 13 -

Chairman: Yes.

Attorney: Of the Planning Commission rules. It sets out the rules for persons or groups with ownership interest in property within 500 feet in the case of amendments, which is what we have here, in each direction of the subject property inclusive of public roads, streets, alleys and other public ways who wish to object, shall upon request be granted one continuance for the purpose of presenting evidence to rebut testimony.

Chairman: So, so that’s, you know -

Attorney: So, please don’t put in there you do not have enough time! Please cite what your, please indicate you would like to rebut testimony, and indicate what that is.

Chairman: Yes, yes, just -

McFarlane: The forms say: to rebut testimony!

Attorney: Right. Right.

McFarlane: So -

Attorney or Chairman: OK, that’s fine, but we just want to make sure we’re all on the same page with what rule we are following. We are all willing, willing to receive all these, but we just want to make sure that everybody is on the same page with what rule is being applied.

McFarlane:  Yes. We do understand that this is for the purpose of rebutting testimony that has been presented, and you know, the standards to be applied here. There are, there’s some evidence that’s been presented, there’s also frankly sort of a lack of evidence on some points, and there is contrary evidence on it; and that, all of that is, is but it is all evidence-oriented, so, OK.

Attorney: OK.

McFarlane; So - [laughs briefly]

Chairman: That is the lens if you’re going to make a request that would, that you need to do it.

McFarlane: Well, OK, it does say: to present evidence. So, I guess, I’m not completely sure -

Isaac: To, to present, ah, evidence in rebuttal.

McFarlane: Yes, it does! It says to present evidence to rebut testimony given.

Chairman:  Yes, it does say to give evidence to rebut testimony. So, so -

Attorney: I believe we are all on the same page.

Chairman: OK.

Attorney: I want to make sure that if, when -

Chairman: Alright.

Attorney:  there is, a lot of these, and I just want to make sure that the actual standards which we will be reviewing were stated.

McFarlane: I’ll finish writing this, and give it to you.

Chairman: So, I was, I was simply asking for more specificity on what would be rebutted, but it does not sound is that required by the ordinance.

Attorney: Well Chair Lewis. It is, it’s not in the ordinances. It’s the rules, so yes.

Chairman: The rules. The rules.

Attorney: We are all on the same page. To rebut something? To use that verb, you would usually identify what, what that is, I mean. But the way that they’ve been stated so far, I think you would, you would be able to accept them, if you so choose, but that is within the discretion of -

Chairman: Yeah, yeah, alright!

3:12:42

Wilmette resident: I have one a quick question. You said that it as it affects people who live within 500 feet? Does that also mean, people who live within 500 feet that live north of Isabella?

Attorney: It does not distinguish Evanston residents and Wilmette residents.

Wilmette resident: So, it’s 500 feet wherever. Thank you. That’s all I wanted to know.

3:18:15

Lynn Trautman: I’ll be really quick. I just want to point out there’s some conflation.

Chairman: Can you state your name?

Lynn Trautman: Oh yes, Lynn Trautman [address].

Chairman: Lynn, I’m sorry, I need to make sure I have this recorded, so -

Lynn Trautman: OK, last one.

Chairman: At the end? Last one? OK, very good.

Lynn Trautman: I just want to point out that there is conflation, conflating going on; as, at the very beginning of the meeting Meagan Jones pointed out that the Bears played at the Arena. They did not play at the Arena, they obviously played at Ryan Field. But there’s a lot of that conflating going on. Also, similarly, Paul McCartney would never play at a venue of 7,000 people, he played to an audience of 184,000 people. So, are they talking about Ryan Field there? We don’t know, they say not, but that’s the question.

Chairman: It’s limited to 7,000 persons, whether it’s at Ryan Field or -

Lynn Trautman: Well, that would be an expensive ticket; none of us could afford it. As Commissioner Halik pointed out, there was a request for an additional six to seven events, but it should also be noted that it’s six to seven events of a very different nature. So, they are asking for professional events, potentially with alcohol served, which is very different from what is happening now. It’s not just another six to seven events, it’s potentially very different. So, my question genuinely is, why, if they are talking about six to seven events per year at the indoor Arena, why must we rezone Ryan Field?

Chairman: It’s not, it’s not being rezoned.

Lynn Trautman: Well, it is, it’s on the map, and it’s -

Chairman: It’s, it’s, it’s a text amendment, it’s not a rezoning, it is U2, it is staying U2. It’s staying U2, it’s not being rezoned, that’s exactly what -

Lynn Trautman: What we are talking about: making changes.  I guess this really applies to the alcohol concern, too: if we are going to serve alcohol, they say there is no interest in that, but if Paul McCartney played the stadium, would they want to serve beer? Probably. Anyway, I just want to point out, and I think it’s important, there is a lot of conflating going on, and the Arena is a very different venue than Ryan Field, and I think it’s important to separate them, and separate the rules, and clarify what rules apply to which venue. Otherwise, because obviously we don’t want the risk of changing the rules for the Arena, and then suddenly have that: Oh, it’s applied to the Stadium too. So, that’s, that’s my -

3:21:20

Mark Sloan: Mark Sloan. I’m on the first page.

Chairman: Mark Sloan. Got it.

Sloan: Got it? Thank you. Couple of quick questions and then a comment, or a comment and a couple quick questions. I am president of the Central Street Neighbors Association, and volunteer to help, maybe even mitigate this scenario with the neighbors and Northwestern. So, we’re hopefully getting help get involved with hopefully, the alderman who should be here saying: what are the neighbors’ concerns, what is the Northwestern issue and trying to come up with a solution to this problem, rather than the neighbors and Northwestern just constantly butting heads against each other. So that’s the first question, you did receive my email? I was on a commission like yours for ten years here in the city. We never took action in August on something that had such effect on the neighbors, because we knew a ton of parents and a ton of families were out on vacation. So, I, I understand what you’re saying, you would never get work done, but I disagree. We would never take this kind of action, and that’s kind of been the concern of some of the neighbors that oh, it’s getting pushed through when nobody’s around, so let’s make that clear on my email. Three questions: this specific new adjustment does not specifically say only Welsh Ryan Arena. We could have 7,000 people in the Field and have an event there, and have a concert there with only 7,000 tickets sold, so we need to understand as neighbors, that it’s not just specifically Welsh Ryan, it is Ryan Field as well. So, this does not specifically, and it goes in difference to what was said Monday night, that it was only going to be Welsh Ryan Arena. This says any U2: we could have 7,000 people on the baseball field as well, have, holding an event. So, let’s make sure we’re all clear and I agree with you, we’re all clear that it could be anywhere in the U2 area. So, let’s make sure that we’re clear on that. Couple of quick questions: the City Special Events Committee, is that a City Council committee is that a staff committee, is that a mixture of both? Does anybody know?

M. Jones: That is a staff committee -

Sloan: OK.

M. Jones: That is set up to review some of the larger events that may be occurring on City property, or are recurring, and may need some of the City staff resources

Sloan: It’s Staff, not elected officials?

M. Jones: No.

Sloan: Got you. And then on the potential proposed amendment that, which the multi-day event would be, require special permission from the City of Evanston. Is that again from staff or elected officials?

M. Jones: For the -

Sloan: Based upon on how it’s written, I don’t, I don’t know.

M. Jones: Yes, admittedly it is a bit ambiguous. I guess depending on the event it could be something that is, if it’s something that is of a greater concern, we could have the Council be the review for that, or with the Special Events Committee. I would probably leave that up to the Commission to decide whether which one would be the better body to make that consideration.

3:24:48

Attorney: So, the Special City currently approves special, some special, Special Events is actually a term of art right now, and it’s defined as [reads the regulation] “all outdoor events requested on City property, i.e. street, sidewalk, park, and or deemed to significantly impact the City are considered Special Events”. [comes closer to Mike] All, all events that, all events, an event that requires City Council approval is a special event. So, City Council does approve many special events, for instance the Out-of-Space concerts, it goes on Canal Shores; that was one of the special events that was approved by City Council. And at, at our conti- when we come back from our continuance, I can have the list of previous, the ordinance that includes the previous list, and we can include that in the packet together to give it some context and provide some more information on this topic.

Chairman: But, but you are stating that, that the Special Events permit would be approved by City Council and not our staff?

Attorney: There is a way to make it a City Council approved event. Since this event doesn’t currently exist in Evanston, I don’t think it’s currently contemplated under that section; but that doesn’t mean that the Plan Commission couldn’t make that recommendation.

Chairman: OK.

Sloan: The other question is: the six single day events don’t need permission from anybody, the way it’s written, right? It’s just the multi-day event that needs permission from the City of Evanston. So those six events, as long as they fit some of the other stuff, doesn’t need any permission from anybody. That’s correct?

M. Jones: Ah, the way that is written, that is basically the case. Again, that’s something that the Commission wants to look at to have some additional review or oversight. That is something that can be considered.

Sloan: And then my last question is: currently they are allowed to have seven events, so, this isn’t adding seven new events? Currently they are allowed to have seven events. They are events that have to be of a non-profit nature and, and amateur athletic events. So, we’re not adding seven more events: we’re just changing the seven events that they, by code already have the ability for -

Audience grumbles

Sloan: How is it adding? How is it adding, if it’s in the code?

M. Jones: There- what is really changing, is the nature of the -

Sloan:  Seven events. They already have -

M. Jones: As the code is written they have permission -

Sloan: But just want to clarify that.

M. Jones: to hold special events that are of a non-profit or amateur athletic event nature.

Sloan: So, Commissioner Halik, first question is: he said they are adding seven more events, and I wanted to clarify that it’s not adding seven more events. It’s just changing the nature of these seven events that they already have by code permission to do.

M. Jones: Essentially.

Chairman: You are right.

Sloan: All right. Thank you very much.

Chairman: And my, and also, they have permission to have multi-day events at all seven events, currently.

M. Jones: Correct.

Chairman: Right? So, this is this is diminishing, this is diminishing the amount of multi-day events that are, that, that they are requesting. This is saying: six single-day events and one multi-day event vs seven multiday-events. So, so which –

Audience starts protesting

Sloan: Which cannot exceed five days.

Chairman: Exactly. So, this is a significant lessening of the amount of days.

Audience protests louder

Chairman: that’s what the proposal is saying.

3:29:00

Berman: My name is Andy Berman, [address]. I’ve lived in Evanston for 28 years near the Stadium. Because you scheduled this in August, when the gentleman said it’s ridiculous for something of this great import, when people are on vacation. I planned a vacation six months ago; we’re going to be leaving on the 28th. So, I’ve got to speak now! I have some questions I’d like to ask the presenters based upon what was just brought up. How many events have you put on, under the existing code which allows you seven events that you have to get permission to go to the City Council for, in the last ten years?

Chairman: Yes, are you asking multiple questions or?

Berman: Yes, I have several questions.

Chairman: So, can you please ask all the questions?

Berman: Oh, I’m sorry, OK, I apologize, I should have known from what you were saying. So, ha ha, let me get the question I have, OK, but the other question I have is to ask the applicants is: did they, why are they, if this all about Welsh Ryan Arena, why didn’t they just say Welsh Ryan Arena in the application instead of the number 7,000? The second question is: did you consult an attorney from Northwestern when you made that decision not to name Welsh Ryan Arena as the venue, instead of putting it as under 7,000 people, which we all know is Welsh Ryan Arena and not Dyche Stadium, which I still call it, because, you know, those of us of have lived for a long time still think of it as Dyche Stadium. So those are the two questions I have for the applicants.

Chairman: OK, thank you.

Attorney: Chairman Lewis, discussing someone’s consultations with an attorney is not an appropriate question.

Chairman: Alright. So, neither -

Berman [away from microphone]: ... Why …Why they are not doing, why they are not just saying Welsh Ryan Arena, instead of… 7,000?

Chairman: That’s fine, yeah -

3:31:04

Poliski: To answer that first question. We generally have had maybe one additional event. We had in fact Carly Ray Jepsen, for those of you who even know who she is. She played a concert November 15 of 2018, a couple of days after the opening of the newly constructed Welsh Ryan Arena, and that was a student-run concert. So, we, the students have had a concert there, generally once a year or so. And I’m not trying to cause problems but I just want to make one quick comment about the Paul McCartney comment. In June of 2018, Paul McCartney is planning to do some small venue shows, loves the intimacy of it, and a variety of other things as opposed to playing in front of 40 or 50,000 people. So, I, I just, you know, we just want to stay with just facts and be reasonable, so I’m going to let Dave answer the second question.

3:32:00

Davies: Thank you commissioners. So again, the question, if I understand it, is why we listed 7,000 as the capacity, instead of specifically saying Welsh Ryan Arena, and identifying one of our facilities. Now, there’s no nefarious reason behind doing that. After reading the ordinance we felt that it was more consistent with the language, and that it made more sense to list 7,000 instead of identifying a specific facility, because we didn’t know what other unintended consequences that could cause. And so, it’s simply, that’s the reason. Again, there is, there’s you know, I’m not sure I understand why there’s the concern, well I do understand, but you know, I think the notion here is that we are trying to do something, again, nefarious and that’s not the intent at all. We just thought that would be more consistent with the language in the ordinance.

3:32:53

Isaac: Would you be open to modifying the language to make a temporary event an indoor event?

Davis: Sure! I mean, we’re open to a lot of things. And you know, that’s why we’ve been talking to the neighbors for the past, you know, three, three, four months now, and so we’re - What we’ve had: two public events. We will continue to talk to the neighbors. I mean that’s why we are here. We would love to get recommendations from the Commission as well as continue to work with the residents.

...

Berman: Just the reason I ask those questions is, one, because of, the Chairman, you were suggesting that they are not actually adding any events, they are subtracting them. Well, they, the question, they essentially don’t put on any events under the existing code. They just said that. You know, well, like one a year, maybe, and as far as I know. I don’t remember.

Chairman: But their right to -

Berman: Their right to; but the right to the right to is different than, when all of a sudden - Because it’s always all about the money, and this is clearly all about the money too. They just, they just spent a fortune fixing this place up and now they want to monetize it; and the reason why they haven’t put on any events in the past, with 7,000 people, is because it was not going to be about the money since they were non-profit by definition. So, and the reason I asked about why they are not naming and you proposed saying indoors, you know, without getting into the map text controversy, there may be legal consequences as to naming a specific building in the district, and that’s why I’m convinced that it’s not Welsh Ryan Arena, but they came up with, with this. So, I think, we think, it’s de facto a map amendment. You seem to disagree. But you know, we’ll agree to disagree. But anyway, that’s, I think to say that they are minimi... or cutting back on the number of events is, it’s just not accurate; and that’s why I wanted to make sure that they told you exactly how many they put on under the existing – thank you.

3:36:02

M. Grace: [address]. I was just curious whether if these are professional events, is there any anticipated income from say, televised rights or anything like this that’s anticipated by the organizers that would produce additional income? And, is there any thoughts that there might be also revenue generated for the City of Evanston for such rights? And, the other question I had is, if there are, it was mentioned six single-day events that do not require any further coordination with the City, is there going to be any effort to make sure that those events do not conflict with other regular Evanston events? So that there is not a conflict of community and professional events. Those were my questions.

Chairman: OK, thank you. Please -

Polisky: Thank you for the questions. As it relates to the television rights and some other ancillary revenue streams, I really don’t know! I guess a lot would have to do with the type of event we would have, almost, I, I, in my recollection, it’s incredibly rare to see a concert that is actually then broadcast for rights, and if those rights would generally remain with the performer and the artist. But we would certainly be comfortable on, in talking about some sort of revenue share if there were additional revenues that were not just the basic revenues that we’re expecting, which would be through consumption, though, through concessions as well as ticketing. As it relates to avoiding other significant Evanston events, we certainly would endeavor to do so. We try to do that as consistently as possible. We don’t always have the ability to pick and choose, as you can imagine with our 19 programs, and the six programs that play at Welsh Ryan Arena, and football, and the broadcast that goes behind it. We’re told most of the time when our events are, so if we’re told when most of our events are, there’s going to be very few windows where there’s going to be open, Friday or Thursday or Saturday, but we would endeavor to do so. For instance: I’m not missing the MashUp, no matter what ‘cause I go to it every year, it’s my favorite event, so we’ll, we’ll do what we can as it relates to that.

3:38:54

Wierzbicki: My name is Joyce Wierzbicki, [address], Evanston, Illinois, right -I have a speech disorder. I’d like to know of these events, are they having their, besides liquor, are they hosting their own type of food? I actually go out to New Orleans Jazz Fest. The French Quarter is, no one goes, then gets flooded when the people come back from the Fest. So, for someone to say that we’re going to bring money to your city, the, the, a lot of the business owners don’t see it. So, they go out to the event, it stays solely at the event, so is, will there be any food sold within these events? Or will our city benefit, our restaurants, and small business owners? Thank you.

3:39:55

Poliski: We will sell concessions at all the events, just like we currently do with football and all the events at Welsh Ryan Arena. We do believe, based upon the feedback that we received from a lot of our local businesses, that there’s still some nice patronage because a lot of our consumers don’t want to spend the money on a hotdog or a thing of nachos, they’d rather enjoy a nice meal at one of the great restaurants in Evanston.

3:40:31

Versenyi:  ... Our property abuts the western parking lot... : I noticed up there, there are mentions of lighting and tractor trailers, but I’m wondering if there are any other stipulations or restrictions on setting up, taking down, cleaning? Because it’s not at all unusual for noise to begin at 6am and go well past 11pm. So, I was just wondering if there were any City rules or Northwestern restrictions on that.

Poliski: We always abide by the 11 o’clock noise ordinance in our place as it relates to where trucks and other necessary vehicles would go. We’re really pleased that we have had, as part of the renovation, we have carved out a big area on the northern parts of the plot, north of the softball stadium and adjacent to the outfield of the baseball stadium a whole bunch of additional parking spaces and other areas where we can store things which will take away from the congestion that has occasionally occurred. As far as the timing of things, we, just like the previous situation with the YWCA, we would certainly be comfortable in talking to anyone who was going to be conducting business to make sure that they do it at the appropriate time to not disrupt the neighbors.

Versenyi: I’m not talking about talking to business. I’m talking about the fact that from my bedroom I can hear what goes on in Welsh Ryan or after football games, the morning after. I hear like: bang bang bang bang bang!  I don’t know whether it’s bleachers being set up or taken down. It’s not outside people coming in; it’s, it’s interior noises that are very loud in the neighborhood.

Polisky: Outside of Welsh Ryan Arena?

Versenyi: Yes!

Polisky: Really?

Versenyi: Yes!

Polisky: O.K. I did not... I can understand football for sure, but –

...

Versenyi: And sorry, well, I will also, and you know, if we’re talking about, it could also be an exterior event, and it’s 7,000 people on the football field, again, if it’s an evening event, the next morning, you guys are out there cleaning, doing, I don’t know what, I can’t identify the noises. Or your trucks are going inside the stadium property; and it’s really loud, and it starts very early or the parking people come out at 6am to start setting up so that the tailgaters can come at 7am. So, you know, it’s a long day.

Polisky: I understand. And I can’t, I won’t be able to assist too much other than asking them to be as quiet as possible as it relates to tailgating, and the timing of that to make sure that there are appropriately securing the parking lot and such; but we certainly can talk about the appropriate time for them to do cleanup following an event that ends at night. The irony is that the intent is to clean it up a well as possible or as quickly as possible so that we don’t disrupt the neighborhood, but your points are really good ones and we can certainly can ask people to wait until 8 o’clock or a particular time that is better, yes, yes.

Chairman: So, and I believe there is a city noise ordinance that starts at some point in the morning, also, so I’m not sure what that is.  But -

Polisky: You know I’m not sure what that is either. I know it’s 11 o’clock at night

...

Chairman: 7am -

Versenyi: [unintelligible]… for the parking lots to open for tailgating…

Chairman: Yeah, but a noise ordinance is a noise ordinance, right. Whoever makes the noise, so yeah, whether you’re mowing your lawn or whatever...