BEDS Plus has withdrawn its application for a 50-unit supportive housing apartment complex in Alsip, hoping to return with a revised plan that could include more parking spaces and fewer units.
Opposition for the proposal expressed during a public hearing last month at the Alsip-Merrionette Park Library led the southwest suburban nonprofit focused on housing and supporting chronically homeless people to reconsider its plans to purchase and construct two 3-story apartment buildings at 12147 S. Cicero Ave, BEDS Plus Executive Director Tina Rounds said.
“What’s the point of a public process if you don’t listen to people?” Rounds said Tuesday.
While Rounds said she thinks the organization adequately addressed concerns raised about how the supportive housing facility would operate, she said she wanted to incorporate residents’ feedback on parking and housing density. She said zoning plans included fewer than two parking spaces per unit, as chronically homeless people often don’t own their own vehicles.
“People that we have in a development like this typically can’t afford the maintenance and the upkeep and the fixed costs of a car,” she said.
But Rounds said residents stressed the need for additional spaces on the property to avoid exacerbating the community’s parking shortage by forcing residents and staff to park on local streets.
She said some people were also concerned that 50 units might be too many for the apartment’s location.
“We are just going back and taking a look and seeing if we can reconfigure things or come up with a different proposal that listens to people’s community feedback, because I think that’s part of the process overall,” she said.
Rounds said she doesn’t know when the updated proposal might ready to be heard by the Alsip Planning and Zoning Committee. The committee was scheduled to discuss the proposal April 22, which was rescheduled for Tuesday before it was ultimately canceled.
Rounds previously told the Daily Southtown the organization chose the property, which belonged to a church that closed several years ago, due to its proximity to public transportation and opportunities for jobs that don’t require specific training. To qualify for state funding, these factors as well as access to resources such as food pantries are important, Rounds said.
“This site met all those criteria, so that’s why we pursued it,” she said.
The nonprofit opened a similar facility in 2018 in La Grange, despite concerns raised by village trustees and community members about the potential impact on nearby property values, safety, a drain on village services for the homeless from outside La Grange and the loss of a commercial opportunity and tax revenue.
Rounds said the La Grange apartments are inconspicuous and blend in to the larger community. They have also become a gathering place for people interested in homelessness as a larger issue.
“So we have Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and moms and retired people that have become involved and really enriched the experience of the client,” Rounds said. “It’s been really lovely. So I’m hoping we can continue that, just give people an outlet and something tangible to help somebody in their community and get to know people.”
Examples of that involvement include an Eagle Scout teaching guitar to three apartment residents and volunteers from churches organizing Sunday potluck dinners at one of the La Grange buildings, Rounds said.
To qualify for the Alsip housing, residents were required to be chronically homeless and have a disabling condition, which Rounds said often prevents them from working or living independently.
Those interested in living within BEDS Plus’ supportive housing facilities must apply for a building waitlist, which opens every few years. For each opening, three people are pulled from the waitlist and provided an additional application for vetting that verifies assets, credit history and criminal history.
“We want a safe, peaceful environment for everybody,” Rounds said.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
