By Brian Sabin
Special to Inside
An architect offered plans for an improved homeless shelter with increased capacity on Fullerton Parkway, and the Zoning Board of Appeals ruled in a hearing on Friday, Dec. 16, that it will need still more time to settle the dispute between the Lincoln Park Community Shelter and its neighbors.
The Shelter has operated for more than 20 years but was told earlier this year that it needs a special use permit to stay open. If the zoning board does not grant the permit, the Shelter will have to shut down.
On May 27 the Shelter applied for the permit, which would create a permanent 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.
The Shelter, and the homeless men it serves, have deeply divided Lincoln Park ever since. Some residents say the Shelter attracts homeless people who commit crimes in the neighborhood. Supporters say the shelter is desperately needed and provides services that aren't available anywhere else nearby.
The case first went before the zoning board on Nov. 18, and the Dec. 16 hearing was the board's second on the matter. The Shelter's legal counsel, which presents its case first, estimates it has nine more witnesses to call before resting its case.
At the hearing Patricia Saldana-Natke of the Urban Works Ltd. architecture firm showed her plans for a permanent facility in the basement of the Presbyterian Church that would include case management rooms, a computer lab, a full kitchen and gender-separate bathroom facilities.
"Currently [the Shelter] is in dire need of rehab," Saldana-Natke said. "The interior is very worn. It's not an efficient layout of space."
Expanded sleeping quarters would house 40 guests under Saldana-Natke's plan, doubling the location's current capacity. Today the Shelter houses a total of 40 guests by dividing them between the Presbyterian Church and another facility at St. Paul's United Church of Christ, 2335 N. Orchard St. All guests would stay in the improved facility on Fullerton Parkway if the zoning board approves the permit.
Saldana-Natke also said the Shelter asked her to address safety concerns of the neighbors in her planning. Her plan calls for a control point at the Shelter's front entryway on Fullerton with inside benches to prevent loitering. She said a rear exit into a narrow alleyway will be for emergency use only.
The alleyway exit is a sensitive issue in the case. One neighbor called the alley "a parade of horror stories" because of crimes that have occurred there. No crime has been linked to the shelter, and statistics provided by the 19th District Police Department show that crime has decreased in the area. Neighbors have said many incidents go unreported.
In other testimony, an appraiser who said the Shelter did not adversely affect the value of neighboring houses came under intense scrutiny during a 40-minute cross examination by the Neighbors' legal counsel.
Joseph Ryan conducted a survey of eight residential sales within two blocks of the shelter during the past 10 years.
His data showed six attached single family homes experienced between 7 and 26 percent annual appreciation, while similar homes in Lincoln Park averaged 10 percent. Two detached units he surveyed experienced 29 and 50 percent appreciation compared to 12 percent for detached houses elsewhere in the neighborhood.
"In my opinion there is no diminution in value attributable to the Lincoln Park Community Shelter," Ryan said.
The Neighbors' chief lawyer, Christopher Kendall, questioned whether Ryan's methods were "good science." Ryan said he had never taken any graduate work in statistical analysis and did not consider the eight homes he evaluated to be a statistically significant sample.
"You don't have the background to offer an opinion on a statistical analysis," Kendall said to Ryan, who agreed.
Kendall then listed a number of other properties in the area that he said experienced lower annual appreciation rates than Ryan had found. Ryan said those residences were inappropriate for the time frame he used, and added that he received his information from the Chicago Department of Planning.
"I didn't cherry pick," Ryan said. "That's all my research found."
Sister Patricia Crowley, executive director of the Chicago Continuum of Care, said Lincoln Park's shelter was one of the best-managed in the city. The Continuum of Care helps determine which of Chicago's homeless outreach agencies will receive funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) every year.
Crowley also said that shelters located in residential neighborhoods like Lincoln Park help motivate the homeless to find permanent housing.
"There's really no other shelter program in that area of the city," Crowley said. "People would be forced to look elsewhere. Any of the programs anywhere near Lincoln Park, within a mile or two, are overcrowded already. I'm afraid [the shelter's clients] would return to the streets."
After almost two hours of testimony, the board moved to continue the case. The board will next hear the case at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20, in City Council Chambers, 121 N. LaSalle St. |
