Residents of the Fifth Ward might be facing a temporary halt on new construction if the Evanston City Council’s Planning and Development Committee passes a new ordinance.

On Monday night aldermen voted unanimously to hold the ordinance in the committee, pending further community discussion.

Penned by Ald. Joe Kent (5th), the ordinance would impose a 180-day hold on any new projects in the Fifth Ward and deny building permits for that period of time.

“All the 180 days does is it empowers residents and directs this staff as to what the community would like to see in development,” Kent said.

According to Kent, in the past few years development in the Fifth Ward has increased substantially but has not adequately met the needs of the community.

“It’s about giving residents a chance to deal with change,” Fifth Ward resident Betty Ester said. “We ask to be a part of it. We do not want to be pushed out.”

Ester and other residents in favor of the proposal said they feel that recent development has been geared toward high-end projects, shutting out some of the ward’s low-income community.

“Why do we want buildings that residents can’t even get into?” Kent said.

But to others, the 180-day wait seems like it would hurt, not help, the Fifth Ward.

“I don’t understand what it is going to do,” Fifth Ward resident Todd Smith said. “It’s just going to stun the area.”

For developer Andy Spatz, the moratorium could stall his current building project, causing him to lose business and possibly exposing him to litigation from future tenants.

“The ordinance is going to squash any positive economic changes that are already happening in the ward,” Spatz said.

The proposal only makes an exception for single-family residences, which can still be refurbished or renovated during the moratorium.

However, Ald. Steven Bernstein (4th), the chair of the committee, asked the city’s community development department to further research how the ordinance would affect projects that are currently in the works, such as Spatz’s.

At the last city council meeting on June 9, the council passed a similar moratorium on tear-downs in the Sixth Ward.

Some Fifth Ward residents say there is no reason for such a moratorium in their ward, where only one tear-down has been observed in the past six months.

But Ald. Kent said his ordinance has “nothing to do with what happened in the Sixth Ward.”

“Just give us a chance to give this community some feet,” Kent said.

If the moratorium passes, Kent said, he plans to use the time to gather the community together to discuss future development projects and to use their input in future decisions.

The Planning and Development committee will hold a special meeting at 7:30 p.m. July 1 to further discuss the issue.