The City of Evanston will not increase or decrease enforcement of an ordinance barring more than three unrelated people from living together, a statement released Wednesday said.
"The City of Evanston has enforced these laws regularly through the years and will continue to do so," the statement reads, however news about a strategy to step up enforcement of the "brothel law" starting July 1 is "incorrect."
The City response was posted on its website less than 24 hours after a town hall meeting addressed the "Three Unrelated Person Ordinance" head on. The agenda for the meeting states that "beginning in the summer of 2011 the City of Evanston will strictly enforce" the ordinance.
The meeting attracted more than 400 Northwestern students rallying against a law that could force hundreds of co-eds out of their off-campus residences this summer.
Following the city's response, Northwestern Dean of Students Burgwell Howard sent students an e-mail saying Evanston has "no plans to evict students from rental properties." The message implied that the city's reaction was in response to a meeting between school and city officials.
"We understand that the City was responding to complaints from other Evanston residents living near campus about issues related to noise, trash and unruly behavior," Burgwell said in the message, "and in an effort to curtail such activities, would attempt to reduce the density of population in the neighborhood."
Students plan to attend Monday's City Council meeting.
Hannah Chanpong is a senior at Northwestern University. She has lived in both on-campus and off-campus housing.
