By Brian Sabin
Special to Inside
The Zoning Board of Appeals ruled Friday, Nov. 18, that it will need at least one more hearing before settling the dispute between the Lincoln Park Community Shelter and its neighbors. Though the Shelter has been operating for decades, the fact that it is supposed to have a special use permit to do so only recently came to light. If it gets this permit, it will continue to operate and will streamline its efforts. If it does not get the permit, it will have to shut down.
The Shelter, and the homeless men it serves, have deeply divided the Lincoln Park neighborhood for more than half a year. Some residents say the Shelter attracts homeless people who are committing crimes. Supporters say the Shelter is desperately needed and provides services that aren't available anywhere else in the neighborhood.
The Shelter applied on May 27 for a special use permit to create a housing facility in the basement of Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, 600 W. Fullerton Pkwy. Backed by a group that calls itself the Lincoln Park Neighbors for Safety, four residents have contested the application and want the site shut down.
Before either side made its opening statement, Commissioner Brian Crowe said the board would hold a second hearing on the matter because of the number of people who wanted to speak. Both sides had brought throngs of supporters.
Crowe surveyed the capacity crowd inside the Cook County Commissioners Room and asked how many expected to testify. About a third of the audience, some sitting, others standing with their backs to the walls, raised their hands.
As the hearing began, people continued to pile into the fifth floor of the Cook County building. Police said "at least 200" people lined the hallways outside the hearing. Many wore large green circle stickers that read "Yes to LPCS special use."
"I can honestly say that I do not believe that I have ever come across a more difficult situation," Ald. Vi Daley (43rd) said in a statement before the hearing.
The Shelter supporters presented their case first.
Program Director Erin Ryan testified that her organization houses 40 people each night in two facilities: at the Presbyterian Church and at St. Paul's United Church of Christ, 2335 N. Orchard St. She said if the Shelter receives its permit, all 40 will be moved into the Presbyterian Church basement.
"We believe that by consolidating all our operations under one roof, we'll provide a better program," Ryan said. The shelter would offer better beds, a state-of-the-art kitchen, full bathroom facilities and more, she said.
The neighbors have said the Presbyterian Church is an inappropriate place to house 40 people because it sits at the corner of an alley and a narrow portion of Geneva Terrace east of the shelter's entrance. Very little space separates the shelter from the nearby homes.
"There's no buffer between the neighbors and the Shelter," Colleen Day, vice president of the Lincoln Park Neighbors for Safety, told Inside on Oct. 26. "That alley has become a parade of horror stories for the neighbors. Almost without exception my neighbors have experienced crime."
Crime statistics provided by the 19th District Police Department have shown that crime has decreased in the area where the shelter is located. The neighbors have said that many incidents go unreported.
Ryan said Shelter clients follow strict rules and are fully supervised from 8 p.m. until 6:45 a.m. every day. She added that through supportive services, the Shelter staff helped 58 percent of the guests find employment last year, and many others moved on to permanent housing.
"There are no shelters that serve the population we serve close to where we are located," Ryan said. "The nearest is a mile away. The most are, by and large, overnight emergency shelters that do not offer the types of programs we do."
Christopher Kendall, a lawyer representing the neighbors, questioned Ryan about the Shelter's security. Ryan said the Shelter screens all applicants to make sure no sex offenders are housed. Before this policy was put in place, however, some sex offenders had spent nights at the Shelter in the past, Ryan said. She explained that her organization has installed surveillance cameras and hired a security guard in response to neighbors' concerns.
Two former guests described how the shelter had changed their lives. Anthony Mastro, 30, said he was struggling with addiction and living on the street when he arrived at the shelter on Aug. 28, 2003. He said he sobered up that day. Now he has a full-time job with a limousine company and pays a mortgage on his own, he said.
Daniel Ahmer also described how the shelter helped him get sober and find the medical attention he needed to go back to work. He now works as a carpenter to support his girlfriend and their baby daughter.
"When I came to the shelter, I had the shirt on my back," Ahmer said. "They went above and beyond. It's unexplainable how many things they did for me."
The neighbors' counsel did not question either witness.
Testimony from the day's last witness, Betsy Bonito, who works for the city's Department of Housing, sparked a brief and unresolved debate about the appropriate location for a shelter.
"I'm interested in [shelter] location in relevant to what's surrounding them," Kendall said. "With regard to the location of shelters in residential districts, the majority [of shelters] that serve men, or men and women, are not located in residential districts."
The Shelter's lawyers disputed that claim. Bonito could not testify to the surroundings of every shelter in the city.
Crowe moved to postpone the hearing. The case will next go before the zoning board at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16, in City Council Chambers, 121 N. LaSalle St.
Hundreds fill hallway
Hundreds of people from the Lincoln Park neighborhood and beyond swarmed the hallways of the Cook County Building to show support for the Lincoln Park Community Shelter. Police confirmed that “at least 200” supporters crowded the fifth floor.
“We think as members of the Lincoln Park community it’s our duty to be here,” said Stephanie Photakis of Students Against Hunger and Homelessness, an organization at DePaul University. “These [homeless] people have every right to have a safe place to stay. The neighbors don’t want to be reminded of the reality around them.”
Within the chamber, many in the capacity crowd felt just as strong in their opposition to the Shelter. They say the Shelter has made their neighborhood more dangerous.
“A number of problems have occurred along Geneva Terrace [where the Shelter is located],” said Christopher Kendall, a lawyer for the neighbors, during his opening statement. “The geography and the layout of the area, with very little open space, have created an area that is conducive to crime.”
Police stopped letting people into the County Commissioners room, which was packed with both Shelter supporters and opponents, well before the hearing. When the hearing started at 5 p.m., the crowd outside filled the hallway from wall to wall, according to Rev. Michael J. Shanahan. They signed up in support of the Shelter, and shortly after 5:45 p.m., Tom Moore, a lawyer for the Shelter, submitted more than 200 signatures to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
“We’re very heartened by the turnout,” said Peg Wander, vice president of the Lincoln Park Community Shelter’s board of directors. “But I’d say it was in line with the support the Shelter has had for 20 years.”
The Shelter had compiled more than 1,000 signatures on a petition before the hearing, according to volunteer George Kuhlman. The Lincoln Park Neighbors for Safety’s petition against the Shelter has about 400 signatures, said Chuck Werner, the organization’s president.
“The politically correct thing to do is support shelters,” David Holingue, who lives near the Shelter, told Inside on Oct. 29. “They don’t ask if it’s a safe shelter. They don’t ask if it’s a well-run shelter. They just think the right thing to do is support the shelter.”
Shanahan said the supporters gathered in the hall sang “Amazing Grace” as the Zoning Board heard testimony. The crowded hallway went quiet every 45 minutes or so when Robert Burson, president of the Shelter’s board of directors, updated the crowd about what was happening inside.
Neighbors opposing the permit declined comment after the hearing. The Shelter’s supporters were very vocal about why they felt the Shelter was important.
“It’s a priority for me because I feel like it enriches my life,” Rebecca Ray Nguyen said. Nguyen is a Rogers Park resident, who interned at the Shelter as part of her master’s program at the University of Chicago. She continues to volunteer a few nights each month.
“[The Shelter’s clients] are working harder than I am,” Nguyen added. “And they’re in situations far worse than mine. It’s inspiring to me that they don’t lose hope, they don’t give up and they stay positive, even with everything going on around them.” |
