Chicago City Council panel backs purchase of former Jewel site for migrant shelter
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Despite the objections of the local alderman, a City Council committee on Monday backed plans to build a migrant tent camp in Morgan Park, on the site of a vacant Jewel store and parking lot.
The Committee on Housing and Real Estate backed a proposal to have the city purchase a 6.5-acre site at 115th and Halsted Streets from Jewel parent company Albertson's for $1.
Although the proposed ordinance does not spell out if the city plans to repurpose the store itself as a shelter, sources have said the city plans to use the parking lot to set up a so-called "base camp" of winterized tents for up to 1,400 asylum seekers.
The committee approved the purchase by a simple voice vote. Only Ald. David Moore (17th) voted no, after city officials could not tell him how much the city would have to pay in property taxes on the site. Mayoral aides said they would try to provide aldermen with that information before a full City Council vote on the measure on Wednesday.
Residents in the area have been adamant about not wanting a migrant camp at the site, and while Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st) did not attend the Housing Committee meeting on Monday morning, he released a letter criticizing the Johnson administration for moving forward with a migrant camp in his ward despite the community's concerns.
The site had already been earmarked to become Morgan Park Commons – a development of housing, retail, and park space. The state of Illinois set aside $15 million for that project. The proposal to purchase the site for a migrant shelter would still leave the door open for that development after the site is no longer needed as a migrant camp.
Mosley is demanding a "full commitment" from the Johnson administration to break ground on the Morgan Park Commons next year.
"The 21st Ward will not tolerate the prioritization of a crisis over our needs and voices!" Mosley wrote. "There are still many questions about safety, timelines, and care for our own residents that have not been answered. The 21st Ward deserves answers to these questions, and I will continue to fight for a true commitment to and investment in our community from this administration."
Mosley said he also wants a commitment of support for another housing development in his ward, improvements at Percy Julian High School, and a shelter for unhoused Chicago residents.
"The administration says we can service Chicagoans and Asylum-Seekers in need. Consequently, I am calling for the 21st Ward to have a temporary shelter for Chicagoans so residents of this community can become more housing secure," Mosley wrote.
Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), who chairs the City Council Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said he hopes the Johnson administration provides Mosley and his constituents with more transparency about the specific plans for the Morgan Park site.
"I saw the statement from Ald. Mosley, and my hope is that there's more communication and engagement so that community can process properly," he said.
Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), the mayor's City Council floor leader, said he expects the Morgan Commons development will move forward "sooner rather than later" once a migrant shelter is no longer needed at the site.
However, he said he expects neighbors' concerns about the shelter will diminish once it actually opens.
"For the migrant shelter, that is a dynamic that is one that some residents oppose. Some people are scared of what will happen. I think that what we've seen is that once these migrant shelters open up, the complaints are not necessarily founded. People are able to see that these shelters are safe. People are able to see that they're accomplishing what they're set out to accomplish," he said.
This all comes as Chicago sees its first freezing temperatures of the season, with thousands of migrants still living at police stations, or sleeping outside, while waiting for space in city-run shelters.
As of Monday morning, more than 19,800 asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago since last August. Nearly 2,800 were staying at police stations while waiting for shelters, with another 500 living at O'Hare International Airport while waiting for a shelter. City officials said 11,761 migrants were still in city-run shelters as of Monday morning.
Sunday night, Johnson's office announced the city would provide blankets and coats to both newly arrived migrants and Chicago's existing unhoused people.
The mayor's office also said warming buses would be stationed at 16 Chicago police stations, while the city also works with faith-based groups to plan for additional emergency staging and shelter.
Ramirez-Rosa said city officials have been struggling to keep up with the influx of asylum seekers that have been arriving in Chicago since last August, particularly since the pace of migrant arrivals has picked up in recent months.
"We've been working expeditiously to try and keep up with the number of buses that Texas is sending. When we realized that the speed at which we could open up a brick-and-mortar shelter was not quick enough to keep up with the buses, that is why we turned to these heated base camp solutions. We're working expeditiously to stand those up. In the meantime, we're going to take every single measure to make sure that we're keeping people warm and we're keeping them safe," he said.
The city also has been moving forward with plans to build a migrant tent camp on a vacant lot at 38th and California in Brighton Park, where many neighbors also have voiced their opposition. So far, the city has been focused on logistical assessments and environmental tests at the site, and has yet to begin any construction on tents or other infrastructure for a migrant camp there.