Fact patrol: The consent decree

The consent decree that ended Northwestern University's suit against the city over creation of the Northeast Evanston Historic District two years ago was back in the news last week.

Some residents charged at the City Council meeting that the university violated the consent decree this month when it paid $600,000 for a single family home at 1945 Orrington Ave.

The house in question. (County Assessor photo)

Robert Atkins of 2005 Orrington Ave. said that NU violated “the letter and spirit of the consent decree” by failing to notify the city in advance of its plans to purchase the property.

Mimi Peterson of 748 Wesley Ave. called the purchase “a clear violation of the consent decree.”

As you might expect, university officials told the Daily Northwestern and the Evanston Review that the failure to disclose the purchase in advance did not violate the consent decree.

At Evanston Now we think you should be able to judge for yourself, so we picked up a printed copy of the consent decree from City Clerk Mary Morris, scanned it, converted it to a .pdf file and uploaded it to the site.

You can read it yourself by clicking on the link below. We invite you to read it and post your comments about whether you think the purchase of the house actually violates the consent decree.