A proposal by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to have a migrant tent base camp in Brighton Park took a step forward when the city signed a six-month, $548,400 land use contract for the site.
The city entered into the agreement with the company that owns the site on Oct. 26, according to a copy of the contract shared with the Tribune. Johnson’s administration acknowledged the agreement, but said the site is only under consideration and is not yet the confirmed location for a migrant base camp.
“No final decision has been made regarding base camps on the property at 3710 S. California. If the site is not used for its intended purpose, both parties can terminate the agreement,” Johnson spokesperson Ronnie Reese wrote in a statement Friday.
Over 3,200 asylum-seekers are sleeping outdoors, at police stations and at O’Hare International Airport, Reese said. The city is in the process of determining if there are any environmental concerns at the Brighton Park location and will notify residents when a determination is made, he added.
Ald. Julia Ramirez, 12th, was not notified that the lease for the site in her ward had been signed before news of the signing spread, she said in a statement shared with the Tribune Friday.
“I continue to be frustrated and disappointed in the administration’s lack of transparency with my community and am deeply concerned that a lease would be signed prior to a full environmental assessment taking place. The city owes 12th ward residents an explanation,” she wrote.
Tensions have run high in the community as some neighbors seek to block the proposed base camp. Protesters swarmed Ramirez at one mid-October demonstration in what Johnson condemned as a “violent act.” City officials discussed plans with Brighton Park residents Thursday night in a virtual community meeting.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/HMMO6MDOP5A7XFG527W3QRS5CE.JPG)
When asked Wednesday how he responds to critics who say his administration hasn’t been transparent about which sites it will use to house migrants, Johnson said he has held regular briefings about the migrant housing crisis and is assessing every possible site after asking aldermen to identify potential locations in their wards.
“We’re going to assess sites all over the city. No one is caught off guard or by surprise,” he said. “We live in Chicago. We got to get people out of police stations. People cannot sleep outside. They can’t be on the floors at airports.”
Anthony Moser, a founding member of the nonprofit group Neighbors for Environmental Justice, requested records from the city related to the site over a week ago because of “a lack of a paper trail” at the site where construction was already underway. He received the contract in response to his records request Wednesday.
In the contract, the city agreed to lease the land “as-is” and maintained the option to extend its $91,400-a-month lease at a 3% increase. It’s unclear what environmental testing has happened at the site and if the construction there has received permits, Moser said.
“What we’re seeing here is a complete lack of clear process around any part of this,” Moser said. “That lack of clear process is bad governance.”
For the Southwest Side environmental justice group, the proposed Brighton Park site raises concerns about environmental racism. The location proposed to house thousands of the city’s most vulnerable people is in an industrial zone, near an interstate and was once home to a zinc smelter that might still render the land toxic, Moser said.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/54BQ7HRCNJCKXPJQM4DFIMASXY.JPG)
[ What to know about Chicago’s migrant crisis ]
Several Brighton Park residents filed for an emergency injunction Thursday seeking to halt development at the site, arguing the site is not zoned for the use of residential property, raises environmental concerns and is undergoing construction without permits.
A similar motion for a temporary restraining order citing a lack of permits filed last Wednesday seeks to halt development of a potential migrant shelter on the 500 block of Western Avenue in West Town.
On Wednesday, no permits were posted to the building as construction laborers worked, bringing inside what appeared to be heating and cooling machinery. Outside, workers with the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council union protested against the city. Union leadership told the Tribune they were protesting because the city was not paying workers prevailing wages at the site.
The city contends it can legally build at the sites despite zoning and permit concerns because of emergency powers.
