I attended the PTA meeting last night; was hoping to get up to speed on the facts of the matter. Our alderman was in attendance and informed us that the Salvation Army had officially withdrawn their proposal to purchase the property. Those in attendance were generally delighted; that’s what I interrupted the clapping to mean.
It’s clear that any church that attempts to purchase that particular church property is going to have a tough go of it if they plan to actively love their neighbor outside the hours of Sunday morning. However, I stayed for the rest of the PTA meeting and it’s clear that the vision and mission at our school includes caring for the under-served and under-represented. And...we’re certainly willing to deal with the traffic and inconvenience it occasionally brings.
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Anonymous
6 years ago
I agree that more clarification is needed of the Salvation Army’s mission and motivations to relocate to this particular location.
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Rob Gallagher
6 years ago
I am worried about the safety of the school children with increased traffic.
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Dennis DeCapri
6 years ago
I reside at 2936 Park Place, directly across the street from the Second Church of Christ Scientist at 2715 Hurd Ave. My family and I have resided there since 1990 and have a strong interest in the sale and future use of the church building, We are concerned over the uses proposed if the Zoning Board of Appeals accepts the special use allowing the Salvation army to relocate to this building. As was voiced by the majority of constituents that attended a meeting at the Willard school on October 17th, there are numerous concerns that granting a special use to relocate the Salvation Army operations to the building at 2715 Hurd will have an adverse impact on the neighborhood.
It is my understanding that the Salvation Army intends to completely relocate operations from the 1403 Sherman Ave location to the location on Hurd, and maintain the full broad spectrum of services currently offered. Given close proximity to the Willard School, the potential adverse impact to traffic and parking that a Food pantry or Donation collection/distribution facility would have on the immediate neighborhood is substantial.
These are not appropriate uses for any residential neighborhood, and given the view that there is little, if any, need in this neighborhood for the majority of services provided, its hard to understand why the Salvation Army would want to relocate so far from the Downtown Evanston, South Evanston and Rogers Park communities they serve. I suspect there may be ulterior motives.
Article 6.3.5.1 of the Evanston Zoning Ordinance recognizes that Special uses are those that "because of their potential adverse impact upon the immediate neighborhood and the city as a whole, require a greater degree of scrutiny and review of the site characteristics and impacts to determine their suitability in a given location". As such, approval for a special use is contingent upon "meeting a set of specific standards and the weighing, in each case, of the public need and benefit agains
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Lisa Foran
6 years ago
We are not in favor of Salvation Army using this building. Location is too close to school.
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Paul Wittcoff
6 years ago
We need to know all details before we can allow this to pass since it is located in the heart of our neighborhood.
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Tim Reardon
6 years ago
Featured
I strongly oppose the Salvation Army move from their current downtown business district location to a residential neighborhood. The Salvation Army is a social services operation. A quiet residential neighborhood with an elementary school across the street is not appropriate for a social services operation.
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Kerry Herbst
6 years ago
A Salvation Army will bring too much traffic to an already busy/sometimes dangerous intersection for Willard students
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Jeanine Shimer
6 years ago
I strongly appose the sale of the church to the Salvation Army. I have a number of concerns: the lack of transparency between the city, church, and neighborhood; I don’t trust that the intention of use will stay the same once the building is purchased; the potential increase of traffic around the church and through the alley, especially during school hours when it is already very congested; the clientele that the Salvation Army serves would rely on public transportation which is not readily available; the safety of our children; the Salvation Army is barely a church, more of a business, which is not suitable for the middle of a residential neighborhood; big Salvation Army trucks driving up and down our streets and parked in the Church parking lot; and potential negative effect on property value.
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Suzanne Peterson
6 years ago
Featured
The zoning of a narrow residential street across from an elementary school and neighborhood park seem inappropriate for a business or community service center (which would be better suited on main thoroughfare like Central).
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Helen Madden
6 years ago
I strongly oppose the purchase of 2715 Hurd Church of Christian Sciencetist by the Salvation Army. I live right across the street from it.
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Kerri Machut
6 years ago
The Salvation Army's intended use proposal is vague, and has potential to change after purchase. The zoning is inappropriate. A narrow residential street, that is already congested with the elementary school's traffic, is the improper place for a business or large community service center that the Salvation Army represents. A location on a main thoroughfare, such as Central St, would make more sense. Many young children also use the school as their neighborhood playground and playfield for sports after school, on weekends, and in summer. Increased usage and traffic raises safety concerns for children. Clarity is needed on this issue.
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Aaron Shimer
6 years ago
As a neighbor in the Willard community living within 500 ft of the church, I believe that the sale of this property to the Salvation Army will result in several provisioning issues regarding the R1 zoning ordinance 6-3-5-10: Standards for Special Uses.
Firstly, as the Salvation Army is already struggling to maintain its current property in downtown Evanston, they will certainly struggle to maintain the 2715 Hurd Ave property, which is much larger and a centerpiece of the neighborhood. This will result in a property not in keeping with the residential neighborhood and character, causing a negative cumulative effect on the immediate neighborhood, and interfering with or diminishing the value of the property and the single family homes in the surrounding neighborhood.
Secondly, a negative effect will be caused by the proposed special uses by the Salvation Army upon the property and surrounding neighborhood:
The property and surrounding neighborhood cannot adequately support a food pantry, a soup kitchen, or donation drop-off activities as these facilities do not exist in the building. Nor can the area infrastructure and property positioned within the R1 zoned area, which is embedded in the heart of a single family home community and across the street from a public elementary school, cannot support special use activities like these that reflect those of a business.
The special uses outlined by the Salvation Army will also cause undue traffic congestion and jeopardize the safety of the hundreds of children attending school every day across the street at Willard Elementary School and the families living in the surrounding area. The area has already been pushed to its traffic limit by school drop-off, regular activities and programs before, during, and after school hours. Any further exacerbation of the traffic infrastructure to the surrounding neighborhood could result in accidents or injuries.
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Chaneice Brown
6 years ago
Featured
Do not want the congestion/danger to children walking before an adequate traffic survey is done. Also want to understand the use of the building/what percent of that is like a typical church services/activities
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Clint Kaiser
6 years ago
Between the added traffic in an area where it's especially dangerous to further congest (due to the elementary school) and lack of clarity on the range of activities the SA is planning for at this property, I oppose this project.
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Barbara Trupp
6 years ago
Featured
This is a residential neighborhood zoned R1. The activities and services provided by the Salvation Army are not in accordance with R1 zoning.
J
John McCall
6 years ago
Salvation Army NOT a church in conventional sense. Their operation here would NOT improve our neighborhood.
A
Anita Slomski
6 years ago
Purchase of the Christian Science church by the Salvation Army would negatively affect this neighborhood.
D
David locey
6 years ago
Another issue I have is this,
I have heard if this doesn’t go through someone might buy the land and build town houses, think about that for a minute.
It will be the destruction of the area. From single-family homes to townhouses. Then two apartment buildings. just look at Central Street there’s the history right there.
I would rather I’m just single family living homes at town houses or apartment buildings.
J
Joan Planos
6 years ago
I cannot see the school area become more congested
I attended the PTA meeting last night; was hoping to get up to speed on the facts of the matter. Our alderman was in attendance and informed us that the Salvation Army had officially withdrawn their proposal to purchase the property. Those in attendance were generally delighted; that’s what I interrupted the clapping to mean. It’s clear that any church that attempts to purchase that particular church property is going to have a tough go of it if they plan to actively love their neighbor outside the hours of Sunday morning. However, I stayed for the rest of the PTA meeting and it’s clear that the vision and mission at our school includes caring for the under-served and under-represented. And...we’re certainly willing to deal with the traffic and inconvenience it occasionally brings.
I agree that more clarification is needed of the Salvation Army’s mission and motivations to relocate to this particular location.
I am worried about the safety of the school children with increased traffic.
I reside at 2936 Park Place, directly across the street from the Second Church of Christ Scientist at 2715 Hurd Ave. My family and I have resided there since 1990 and have a strong interest in the sale and future use of the church building, We are concerned over the uses proposed if the Zoning Board of Appeals accepts the special use allowing the Salvation army to relocate to this building. As was voiced by the majority of constituents that attended a meeting at the Willard school on October 17th, there are numerous concerns that granting a special use to relocate the Salvation Army operations to the building at 2715 Hurd will have an adverse impact on the neighborhood. It is my understanding that the Salvation Army intends to completely relocate operations from the 1403 Sherman Ave location to the location on Hurd, and maintain the full broad spectrum of services currently offered. Given close proximity to the Willard School, the potential adverse impact to traffic and parking that a Food pantry or Donation collection/distribution facility would have on the immediate neighborhood is substantial. These are not appropriate uses for any residential neighborhood, and given the view that there is little, if any, need in this neighborhood for the majority of services provided, its hard to understand why the Salvation Army would want to relocate so far from the Downtown Evanston, South Evanston and Rogers Park communities they serve. I suspect there may be ulterior motives. Article 6.3.5.1 of the Evanston Zoning Ordinance recognizes that Special uses are those that "because of their potential adverse impact upon the immediate neighborhood and the city as a whole, require a greater degree of scrutiny and review of the site characteristics and impacts to determine their suitability in a given location". As such, approval for a special use is contingent upon "meeting a set of specific standards and the weighing, in each case, of the public need and benefit agains
We are not in favor of Salvation Army using this building. Location is too close to school.
We need to know all details before we can allow this to pass since it is located in the heart of our neighborhood.
I strongly oppose the Salvation Army move from their current downtown business district location to a residential neighborhood. The Salvation Army is a social services operation. A quiet residential neighborhood with an elementary school across the street is not appropriate for a social services operation.
A Salvation Army will bring too much traffic to an already busy/sometimes dangerous intersection for Willard students
I strongly appose the sale of the church to the Salvation Army. I have a number of concerns: the lack of transparency between the city, church, and neighborhood; I don’t trust that the intention of use will stay the same once the building is purchased; the potential increase of traffic around the church and through the alley, especially during school hours when it is already very congested; the clientele that the Salvation Army serves would rely on public transportation which is not readily available; the safety of our children; the Salvation Army is barely a church, more of a business, which is not suitable for the middle of a residential neighborhood; big Salvation Army trucks driving up and down our streets and parked in the Church parking lot; and potential negative effect on property value.
The zoning of a narrow residential street across from an elementary school and neighborhood park seem inappropriate for a business or community service center (which would be better suited on main thoroughfare like Central).
I strongly oppose the purchase of 2715 Hurd Church of Christian Sciencetist by the Salvation Army. I live right across the street from it.
The Salvation Army's intended use proposal is vague, and has potential to change after purchase. The zoning is inappropriate. A narrow residential street, that is already congested with the elementary school's traffic, is the improper place for a business or large community service center that the Salvation Army represents. A location on a main thoroughfare, such as Central St, would make more sense. Many young children also use the school as their neighborhood playground and playfield for sports after school, on weekends, and in summer. Increased usage and traffic raises safety concerns for children. Clarity is needed on this issue.
As a neighbor in the Willard community living within 500 ft of the church, I believe that the sale of this property to the Salvation Army will result in several provisioning issues regarding the R1 zoning ordinance 6-3-5-10: Standards for Special Uses. Firstly, as the Salvation Army is already struggling to maintain its current property in downtown Evanston, they will certainly struggle to maintain the 2715 Hurd Ave property, which is much larger and a centerpiece of the neighborhood. This will result in a property not in keeping with the residential neighborhood and character, causing a negative cumulative effect on the immediate neighborhood, and interfering with or diminishing the value of the property and the single family homes in the surrounding neighborhood. Secondly, a negative effect will be caused by the proposed special uses by the Salvation Army upon the property and surrounding neighborhood: The property and surrounding neighborhood cannot adequately support a food pantry, a soup kitchen, or donation drop-off activities as these facilities do not exist in the building. Nor can the area infrastructure and property positioned within the R1 zoned area, which is embedded in the heart of a single family home community and across the street from a public elementary school, cannot support special use activities like these that reflect those of a business. The special uses outlined by the Salvation Army will also cause undue traffic congestion and jeopardize the safety of the hundreds of children attending school every day across the street at Willard Elementary School and the families living in the surrounding area. The area has already been pushed to its traffic limit by school drop-off, regular activities and programs before, during, and after school hours. Any further exacerbation of the traffic infrastructure to the surrounding neighborhood could result in accidents or injuries.
Do not want the congestion/danger to children walking before an adequate traffic survey is done. Also want to understand the use of the building/what percent of that is like a typical church services/activities
Between the added traffic in an area where it's especially dangerous to further congest (due to the elementary school) and lack of clarity on the range of activities the SA is planning for at this property, I oppose this project.
This is a residential neighborhood zoned R1. The activities and services provided by the Salvation Army are not in accordance with R1 zoning.
Salvation Army NOT a church in conventional sense. Their operation here would NOT improve our neighborhood.
Purchase of the Christian Science church by the Salvation Army would negatively affect this neighborhood.
Another issue I have is this, I have heard if this doesn’t go through someone might buy the land and build town houses, think about that for a minute. It will be the destruction of the area. From single-family homes to townhouses. Then two apartment buildings. just look at Central Street there’s the history right there. I would rather I’m just single family living homes at town houses or apartment buildings.
I cannot see the school area become more congested