The battle over the proposed Popeyes on the corner of Dempster and Dodge has continued to evolve. Since the plans for the Popeyes have been revealed to the public, opposition from the West Village community has been strong. The Heartwood Center, a holistic healthcare center directly next to the planned Popeyes, has led this opposition.
“A group of neighbors asked us if we would join them and oppose,” said Heartwood’s director, Nancy Floy. “We joined them, and we have been opposing.”
Floy and Heartwood’s fight evolved further when, on August 14th, a rally was held in the Heartwood parking lot. The backdrop was a mural on the side of Heartwood that said “Mayor Biss, say no to Popeyes” in bright red letters. In attendance was Gabi Walker-Aguilar, owner of 4 Suns Juice Bar, who is looking to open a healthier alternative to Popeyes in the same location.
“The neighbors came to us and said, ‘we don’t want another fast food restaurant, we want healthy food,” explained Floy. “They told me to go to Gabi and see if she would come in.”
The politics of the event went beyond the mural. Kat Abughazaleh, who is running against Biss for the vacant seat in Evanston’s congressional district, spoke at the event. Her speech highlighted local businesses and her appreciation for the people who came to protest a community issue they care about.
“I had someone reach out telling me that there was a community protest – a lot of people were talking about small businesses, and about the Popeyes,” said Abughazaleh on her appearance. “The main thing that we wanted to highlight was talking to people in the community.”
Shortly after the rally, Popeyes changed a part of its proposal that had come under criticism. Originally, Popeyes was to operate as a type-two (quick-serve) fast-food restaurant; however, the proposal was shortly changed to a type-one (sit-down) restaurant. However, Heartwood’s pushback on this decision led the chain’s owner, Karim Poonja, to reapply as a type-two. This means the fast-food joint will now go through Evanston’s land use commission, a board of residents who oversee developments and special permits for buildings.
“All we were asking was that they follow the law, because Popeyes is not a type-one restaurant,” stated Floy. “Our message got heard and we won.”
The vocal opposition to Popeyes has garnered Heartwood plenty of attention, perhaps even too much. On August 20th, a complaint was filed against Heartwood by neighbor Adam Finlayson, regarding Heartwood’s status as a tax-exempt Buddhist Temple. Finlayson’s reasoning is that he believes Heartwood does not operate like a religious institution.
“It’s conducting health care services, personal services, coaching, all valuable things, but not church activities,” explained Finlayson. “Renting out apartments is not a church activity, and certainly, hosting a congressional campaign is strictly, strictly forbidden, even for nonprofits.”
Floy vehemently disagrees. “Our attorneys have reviewed, and there’s nothing in the complaint that’s accurate that challenges our status, nothing,” she said.. “As a Buddhist Church, which we are legally, everything that we do is part of our Buddhist church activities.”
Heartwood was previously registered as a charity; however, its registration was changed to a religious organization in 2016. With this classification, Heartwood is not required to disclose the majority of its finances. This raised red flags for Finlayson, who believes that if Heartwood is to operate like a charity, its finances should be treated as such before it makes a bid for the proposed Popeyes’ land.
“I’d like to see them switch their IRS status back to being a public charity, and to see their finances disclosed,” said Finlayson. “If they’re like, ‘block this Popeyes proposal and approve our proposal, all the details are secret, and we promise we’ll tell you after you block Popeyes,’ that seems kind of suspicious to me.”
At the moment, the only thing that seems certain about the controversy is even more uncertainty. With public hearings coming up on September 24th, answers regarding the future of the southeast corner of Dempster and Dodge may be coming soon.
