Sober living homes, city reach agreement

Rockford, Oxford House agree to put condemnation on hold

With the deadline for Winnebago County restaurants to apply for COVIDrelated grant funds fast approaching, there is a strong interest in the program.

The application portal for restaurants to receive a share of a $1.5 million grant, aimed at helping them recover losses caused by higher unemployment insurance rates during the pandemic, opened Feb. 26. It closes at 5 p.m., March 28.

“This was a countywide issue for the entire industry,” said John Groh, CEO of the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We have applications from not just Rockford, but throughout Winnebago County.”

To qualify for a share of the state grant, restaurants must certify that they complied with indoor dining closure mandates during the first quarter of 2021 that were set forth by five executive orders issued by Gov. JB Pritzker.

Restaurants must also show that they've incurred or will incur a higher unemployment rate in 2022, 2023 and 2024 because of rate increases in Q1 2021.

“We had like a 900% rate increase,” said Michelle LaMay, general manager at Franchesco's Ristorante in Rockford. “We were at .625%, which is about as low as you can go. We are at 7.8% now, which is costing us about $80,000 a year.”

Franchesco's has 125 employees and a $2 million payroll.

“Before the pandemic, we never really saw unemployment, so this was enormous,” LaMay said.

Groh said he expected a large amount of interest in the program.

Representatives for Oxford House Inc. and Rockford have agreed to put condemnation proceedings on hold until after an April inspection of the sober-living houses located in city neighborhoods.

Saying they are operating in violation city building codes, Rockford has moved to condemn five Oxford House locations where groups of people recovering from drug addiction and alcoholism live in what the residents say are supportive communities.

Officials argue that “communitybased housing” single-family homes in Rockford are required to have automated fire sprinklers if there are more than four people living there and that they are limited to six residents. They also say areas of the house like basements, hallways and closets cannot be used as bedrooms because they don't have proper exits in case of a fire.

Oxford House has argued most of those rules should not apply to them because their residents are considered handicapped under the Americans with Disabilities and Fair Housing Act and that they should get special accommodations.

The company has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the city.

James Thompson, a Rockford lawyer representing Oxford House, on Friday asked the Rockford Building Board of Appeals for a stay on the case pending the outcome of the federal case. He said the lawsuit could decide the major issues at stake in the condemnation proceedings.

If not a stay, he asked for more time to address or challenge other issues

Jim Hagerty

city inspectors had raised until after an April 5 inspection.

Assistant City Attorney Matthew Flores argued the issues are a matter of state, not federal law and should not be stayed. However, he agreed to a delay to allow inspections to proceed and return to the board with a “better focus.”

The five-member board — composed of area architects, contractors and construction experts — gathers only as-needed in cases of an appeal and does not conduct regular meetings. Board members who are appointed by Mayor Tom McNamara chose Studio GWA architect Jennifer Spencer as its chairwoman.

Jeff Kolkey writes about government, economic development and other issues for the Rockford Register Star. He can be reached at (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.