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Kankakee council delays final reading on proposed Fortitude shelter after strong public support
Summary
After extensive public testimony and a unanimous planning-board recommendation, the City Council did not suspend rules to allow final passage of a conditional-use ordinance for a shelter at 970 East Court Street; the item will return for a subsequent reading.
Kankakee City Council on Tuesday declined to suspend the rules to allow final passage of an ordinance that would grant a conditional-use permit for a shelter care facility at 970 East Court Street, postponing the decision to a future meeting.
The item drew lengthy public comment and a unanimous 6-0 recommendation for approval from the city’s planning board. Dozens of local providers and residents urged council members to approve Fortitude Community Outreach’s permit at the meeting.
“As such, I have come before you to respectfully request this council's support of the Fortitude Overnight Shelter as a first step in their plan,” said John Beavis, identified in his remarks as director of the Kankakee County Health Department. “The Illinois Department of Public Health State Health Improvement Plan names homelessness as a top health need in the state.”
Speakers representing or supporting Fortitude said the group has collaborated with agencies across the county. Jack Tyson, board chair of Fortitude Community Outreach, described efforts to address root causes as well as overnight sheltering. Resident speakers and longtime shelter workers told the council that a functioning shelter reduces street homelessness and emergency calls.
Liam Wheeler, coordinator for the Central Illinois Continuum of Care, described regional need and capacity: “In 2023, 3,000 people in our continuum experienced homelessness and sought help. In 2024, over 4,000. Halfway through this year, we are at 2,300 people experiencing homelessness.” He also said Fortitude had received state Department of Human Services grant awards and operates according to trauma-informed standards the continuum monitors.
Director King told the council the planning board hearing on Aug. 19 produced “a significant amount of public comment” mostly in support; the planning board recommended approval with conditions, including restricted hours and other standard permitting conditions. King also said letters from a nearby neighboring property owner opposing the use were circulated to elected officials and had been read at the prior council meeting.
When the council voted on a motion to suspend the rules and allow immediate final passage of the ordinance, the motion failed. The clerk recorded four ayes and 10 nos, which meant the ordinance could not be adopted that night and must come back for a future second reading and final vote.
Council members heard both emphatic endorsements from service providers and neighborhood concerns about daytime services, and the record shows the planning board’s conditions included limits on hours. No formal direction to staff to change the application or the planning board conditions was recorded during the public meeting; the matter will return to the council for the required subsequent reading.
The planning-board recommendation, the public testimony from health and homeless-service partners, and the failed attempt to suspend the rules were all part of the official record for the pending ordinance. The council did not adopt the conditional-use permit or ordinance at Tuesday’s meeting.
If and when council schedules the second reading, staff will publish the packet with the applicant’s final conditions and any additional documents submitted by neighboring property owners or the applicant.
