Some plan commission members agree with residents living near the busy corner, which is next to a Chicago Transit Authority Purple Line stop as well as a Metra commuter rail station, who say 125-ft buildings would create a canyon effect. They also argue whether the corner's location near those transit stations do much to reduce the number of cars in the area, which already has seen redevelopments that include condominium units.

Rather than downzone the area, plan commission members endorsed an overlay district that would give them the right to oversee all redevelopment projects, including those that would require no zoning changes. The measure was sent to the commission's zoning committee.

Closer scrutiny could be given to a building at the southeast corner of Main Street and Chicago Avenue, where the owner has been mulling a redevelopment project for about four years.

The area was rezoned two years ago, which is too soon for changes, suggests plan commission member Steve Knutson.

However, it is time to update 1998 traffic studies, says commission chairman Lawrence Widmayer. He urged city officials to make it a priority in this year's budget.

"We are kind of working in the blind here when it comes to planned development," Widmayer says. "We're behind on traffic flow, and what's going on today. ... We could be going down the wrong path with the wrong information."

However, Widmayer is among those who rejects arguments made by developers of transit-oriented projects. "In Evanston, even if they have public transportation, people still have two cars," he says.