The Evanston City Council approved changes to the city’s lodging establishments ordinance that covers dormitories, hotels and apartment hotels like the Margarita Inn, which has served as long-term housing for the homeless since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Councilmember Clare Kelly was the lone no vote saying she believes the process has been rushed and clearer standards need to be set instead of a “one size fits all” model. She said she supports the work done to assist the city’s homeless population.
“If this were going though normal procedure under shared housing license, it would be subject to much higher safeguards and standards,” she said. “I think we are making a huge mistake.”
Interim City Community Development Director Sarah Flax said there are 82 facilities that would be affected by the ordinance, with a majority being dormitories.
The changes, approved during the Feb. 27 City Council meeting, would require housing of this type to be inspected by the city for licensing. Operators would have to create and abide by an operating agreement and the city could revoke the license if the agreement is not followed.
Councilmember Eleanor Revelle said she believes the inclusion of individual operating agreements to the ordinance give the city more tools to regulate and enforce a wider range of shared housing.
This approval brings Connections for the Homeless, which runs the Margarita Inn, closer to achieving its goal of a permanent long-term housing shelter. A Good Neighbor Agreement outlining the expectations of the shelter, its neighbors and the city was signed by Mayor Daniel Biss and Connections for the Homeless Chief Executive Officer Betty Bogg in February. The agreement provided avenues for residents to turn to if issues arise. It also formed a Good Neighbor Advisory Council to ensure the agreement is upheld.
Along with the licensing agreement, a special use permit is required before the Margarita Inn can become permanent. A court ruling, filed by Cameel Halim who owns neighboring property, forced a vote on the special use permit to be removed from the Feb. 13 meeting. Cook County Judge Neil Cohen said another meeting of the city’s Land Use Commission was needed to give Halim an opportunity to speak. That meeting has been scheduled for March 8. From there, the Land Use Commission will take another vote on the permit. If approved, it would move to the Planning and Development Committee and City Council.
Bogg said in an email that Connections for the Homeless hopes that a final decisions can be made on the special use permit at either the March 27 or April 10 meeting.
Gene Combs, a board member at Connections for the Homeless, asked council members to make decisions that wouldn’t delay Connections staff from doing the work they need to.
“I walk past the Margarita Inn every time I walk downtown to shop or to eat,” Combs said. “I’m proud of that. I think each of you should be proud to have the Margarita here.”
One Connections board member said she is the person she is today because of the help she was given by Connections for the Homeless after she fled from a domestic violence situation with her special needs son.
“Domestic violence is something that can happen to anyone at any time no matter how brilliant, wonderful, educated, capable you are,” she said. “Please look at your humanity.”
Councilmember and 4th Ward Alderperson Jonathan Nieuwsma spoke in favor of the Margarita Inn, located in his ward, saying the process has been ongoing since May of last year when he made a proposal for licensing to give the city oversight on the shelter.
“We need to make sure that when all the individuals on this council and all the individuals currently working in that facility are long gone in 20 or 30 years that it’s still going to be a valuable part of our community,” he said.
He said the flexibility of the ordinance allows the city to finely tune regulations on a large variety of shared housing including those that haven’t been created yet without having to go through the entire rezoning process.
“We don’t know what changes are going to come up in the housing market but we know they are going to change,” Flax said. “There housing world is changing as fast as the rest of the world and we can’t contemplate everything in advance. One of the things that having an opportunity (like this allows is) to at least consider any new things that come up without saying ‘We have nothing in our code to even allow us to think about this.’ “
The details for regulating shared housing will be outlined in operating agreements that will vary by establishment.
Hammering out the details of the Margarita Inn’s operating agreement will be part of the next steps going forward.