Colton Lexus stayed Wednesday night at the Carpenter Hotel, with funds he said were provided by his grandmother. Where is Lexus staying Thursday night and beyond?
“I don’t know right now. I’m hoping there is a shelter I can get into for the time being,” Lexus said.
Lexus can no longer sleep in either of his two tiny homes located on land he owns at 1705 Carpenter St. because of Sangamon County Seventh Circuit Court Judge Robin Schmidt’s July 22 ruling in favor of the city of Springfield in the latest chapter of his ongoing fight over zoning laws. One of his pods, as he calls them, is 18 square feet and the other is 32 square feet. The city’s building and zoning department says neither one qualifies as a legally permissible structure.
After nearly a four-hour hearing that included three witnesses for the city – and lengthy cross-examinations of them by Lexus, who was acting as his own counsel – Schmidt ruled in favor of the city, granting a preliminary injunction for violation of city zoning ordinances.
The ruling said that Lexus “is enjoined and restrained from living in, occupying, or otherwise using the structure(s) on the property. … for the duration of the order.”
If Lexus, 31, whose birth name is Chase Hadez, were to try to live in the structures on his property, he could be subject to arrest. Lexus told Illinois Times he will try to stay in a shelter for the time being, or possibly stay in a tent on his property, which he purchased in April for $3,495.
But for Lexus, the fight isn’t over.
On Thursday, he filed a motion for an emergency stay of the order. The preliminary injunction, which functions as a ruling in advance of the final and formal trial, is currently in effect until an Aug. 3 hearing.
After rendering her decision, Schmidt told Lexus he had 30 days to respond with any objections, which Lexus made clear to Illinois Times he does.
“I’m being put out on the street after owning and purchasing this property outright, even though I have my own utilities,” Lexus said. “I presented a lot of evidence to show, and I still believe that the city did not meet their burden of proof.”
The problems with the city began when he decided to live totally off the grid, in tiny structures he built himself. The structures do not meet city zoning standards, but Lexus argued he had found alternative ways – such as solar power and various battery-powered means for amenities such as heat, electricity and water filtration – that should grant him the right to live in the structures.
But the city, represented by attorney Robert Hogue, stuck firm with its contention that the structures “do not meet the definition of a ‘dwelling unit’ pursuant to the city’s zoning ordinances” and that “City Code 170.16.13(h) defines an unsafe and dangerous structure as one that lacks sanitary services or otherwise, is determined by a building inspector or housing inspector to be unsanitary, unfit for human habitation, or in a condition that is likely to cause sickness or disease.”
Hogue declined to elaborate in comments to Illinois Times after the hearing, other than to say, “An injunction was granted. (Lexus) has an opportunity to respond in briefing.”
Tom Pavlik, an attorney with Delano Law in Springfield, told IT that most litigants stop when the preliminary injunction is issued.
“The injunction is a good predictor of where the court will ultimately land – which is why most people in his position just give up,” Pavlik said.
Schmidt seemed torn in making her decision, telling Lexus, “Frankly, I think the structures look better than some of the things I’ve seen in Springfield.” She said that he had come up with “some interesting solutions, an interesting structure and some creative ideas.”
But Schmidt cited a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court case, Grants Pass vs. Johnson, whose 6-3 decision in favor of the Oregon city ruled that municipalities had wide latitude in enforcing zoning ordinances against homeless encampments and other structures that violate city codes.
Complicating matters for Lexus, he lives in Ward 2, which currently has a moratorium on tiny house developments. Alderman Shawn Gregory asked for one after the Be Neighbors nonprofit came to the Springfield City Council in September 2024 to request funding for an 18-unit development on Stanton Avenue that was opposed by many of the nearby residents.
Schmidt told Lexus, “I hope you and the city can work something out, I really do.”
In the meantime, Lexus has set up a GoFund Me page that, at last check, had raised $450 of a goal of $700. He has a TikTok account with nearly 100,000 followers, and posted videos Wednesday night of his “first night of being homeless” from his hotel bed. He hopes to find an attorney to represent him further on a case that, he believes, has a long way to go.
“This could go to the (U.S.) Supreme Court,” he said.
This is absolutely outrageous!! He owns the property!! He owns everything on the property!! Can he pitch a tent on the property? Springfield council DO BETTER!! What is the world has our city become when someone is trying to NOT live on the streets and gas a goal in mind and is defending themselves and their property and keeps hitting walks established for what? Is the city trying to enable people to be homeless?
He knew exactly what the building codes were before he bought the lot. His “tiny house activism” stunt is nothing but an attempt to play victim, chase sympathy, and grab attention.
He’s not without funds, either and if he truly needed help, there are plenty of places to get housing, including the Housing Authority and multiple assistance programs.
What do you think he’s going to spend money from suckers on GoFundMe? A pat on the back and a pile of cash for breaking rules he knew existed.
Minimum square footage requirements along with fire codes and numerous other safety measures were created to stop buildings from turning into fire traps and slum housing.
Units that are too small have high turnover, fall into disrepair faster, and cost more to maintain than a properly sized home.
And when they inevitably fail, they end up costing all of us more in tax dollars through increased social‑service demand, higher crime, and a shrinking tax base. This was all proven years ago.
That’s why the standards exist
Stfu. Im sure you’re one of many that b!tch and moan over the homeless population that we indeed have in Spfld too, and yet here you are saying he has no right to do whatever tf he wants on HIS land that he has to pay taxes on just like you do! The only difference? Where he had to lay his head was worth a few hundred your waste of space is tens of thousands. Why does the city, or you for that matter care where he lays his head on property he paid for? Yet a tent is deemed safe? At last check, a tent doesn’t have a restroom or running water, no protection from the elementa and weather, but it’s okay! Make it make sense! It’s in an undesirable neighborhood..Just look at the houses across the street that are way more undesirable than what he created! And that lot was and would continue to be an overgrown mess to breed rats, mice and every other pest if he hadn’t paid the former negligent owners 3 years of back taxes to gain ownership!
People and the system of Springfield, Ill don’t want to better this community, they want something to complain about and to make things harder for the less fortunate that found a solution to a big problem! Look around Springfield; no, not the west end! The north and east end mainly! Take a stroll down north grand west of Lanphier, for starters, take in all the long gone businesses and empty properties. Stop at the high rise on North 8th and see the conditions our elderly live in! This town has way bigger problems than a man living how he wants on a property he pays for!
How about an interview with Mr. Lexus?
Another entitled millennial who is butt-hurt because he can’t have his way despite the law. Get a job.
Yeah get a job like hebsaid
..millennial. are the worst…
I’ll hurt his but
You’re whet is wrong with this world. You’re mad because a man thet didn’t have life handed to him on a silver platter and was in a ‘Class” of people you and your buddies liked to complain about while sipping your overpriced $12 beers at the golf course, was smarter than you could have hoped. He was and is part of the less fortunate community you snub, but found a way to make his situation a little better. I don’t know of a single person that says “hey, i hope to be homeless and wonder where I’ll lay my head at night”. And im sure this guy didn’t either. Besides, you’re defending the city on this in an area nobody cares about! Do you even know exactly where this is? If so, did ya look directly across the street and see the sh!t holes people live in? And I aint knocking them, they’re doing what they can with what the they can/afford. The very last house before the tracks heading east on Carpenter rented for $1k a month, it’s owned by a slumlord. You can’t run a toaster and the microwave at the same time or breakers pop to half the house. The basement also fills with sewage. There is also no air conditioning and on the renter to provide window units. There isnt a screen in a single window either, so have fun with the bugs should you decide to open a window for a breeze and pray no one climbs in through the night. Who is down that owners throat? NO ONE! But more importantly, rent is $1k a month in an unsafe home in an undesirable neighborhood…where do you expect someone with nothing to come up with that kind of money, and why should they when they can take 3 months worth of rent in that very neighborhood and buy a permanent home!? Who are you or anyone to say where theyre laying their head is unsafe and unsanitary when they have had no choice but to sleep on a sidewalk for people like you to gawk at before? Is their former option safer or more sanitary? Again, no. You aren’t giving or providing a home, and wouldn’t, so how about you mind your business, especially when it comes to a person and a part of town you could care nothing about. Worry about your yard and what your neighbors are doing and leave him alone.
Such a nice, neat home! HOME. Not just a dwelling.
With today’s wild upheaval and uncertainty, how can you deny the comfort and security of four sturdy walls and a roof?
Springfield, do better!
he needs to get a job
He needs to DO BETTER, and get a job !
Am I reading this correctly: Three THOUSAND four hundred ninety-five dollars on a tent? Not thirty four dollars and 95 cents? I just want to make sure I am reading that correctly.
That’s what he paid for the property, not the tent.
So many out of touch boomers in this comment section that believe there is only one correct way to live your life.
I’m not a. boomer I’m a coomer!
…. Get a job….
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Housing is a fundamental human right. I choose to be closer to God and worship only him. Not to stay in debt to mankind. God granted me a blessing to build a home that I believe can make a huge difference in my life. The city has to understand that one code is not a “one size fits all” requirement. Codes mustn’t violate any other laws and federal protections that come with your right to freedom of religion. Especially on your own land. God bless you all. This fight is far from over.