The City of Evanston has decided not to step up its enforcement of the “brothel law,” an ordinance prohibiting more than three unrelated people from living together under one lease agreement. The move comes after University President Morton Schapiro met with Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl amid widespread student rancor over the policy.
The university hosted a contentious town hall meeting on off-campus issues Tuesday, which about 500 students attended. Students at the meeting received paper handouts saying that the city would “strictly enforce” the ordinance beginning summer 2011.
But some left still unsure of how the change in policy would affect them, or how the university would be involved. And for students residing off campus, many of whom live in violation of the ordinance, it was unclear whether the city would begin to investigate and evict them.
The next day, Dean of Students Burgwell Howard attempted to clarify the city’s position. “The city is not actively looking for violations,” he told North by Northwestern.
Howard met with Schapiro and other administrators Wednesday morning to discuss how to approach the city regarding students’ concerns about the ordinance.
Afterward, Howard said, Schapiro met with Tisdahl. Later Wednesday evening, the city issued a statement saying that it would not begin pursuing occupancy violations more aggressively on July 1.
Howard said that Schapiro and other administrators wanted to make it clear to the city that seeking out and evicting students living in violation of the ordinance “would really not be to the benefit of Northwestern students, Northwestern University or the City of Evanston.”
Meanwhile, ASG President Claire Lew spent the day collecting signatures on a petition asking the city to reconsider its decision to ramp up enforcement. She did not learn until Wednesday evening at the start of the Senate meeting that Evanston had backed down from the decision, when The Daily Northwestern sent out a news report.
Lew said she still intends to deliver the petition, which garnered 4,120 signatures, to Tisdahl in a meeting Thursday.
“We’re really pleased to hear that Evanston has decided not to step up enforcement of the ordinance,” she said, “but at the same time we realize that this is a short term solution.” Lew said that students remain uncertain as to how the city will go about enforcing the law.
There were reports as early as November that Evanston was planning to enforce the ordinance more aggressively, after Howard sent an email reprimanding students for rowdy off-campus parties — leading to a town hall meeting between students and Evanston residents.
But an article published in The Daily Northwestern Tuesday brought the issue to the forefront of students’ minds, and generated strong backlash against the administration and the city.
Lew and Howard both said they wanted to begin planning a meeting between students and city officials to further clarify the city’s position. There is not yet a concrete date for that meeting, though some students had planned to attend the Evanston City Council meeting Monday at 7 p.m.
Looking back on the past 48 hours, Howard said he was happy to see students come together to rally around the issue, though he thought they could have taken a more civil tone.
“The student body, while yelling at varying levels, spoke with one voice,” he said.