The Joliet City Council on Tuesday removed a restriction limiting residency at an apartment complex to students and others affiliated with Joliet Junior College.

Two JJC officials urged the council to lift the residency requirement on the Rock Run Residences, which is located on the edge of the Joliet campus.

The council voted 6-3 to amend a city agreement in place since the complex was built in 2001 under the name of Centennial Commons.

JJC board Chairman James Budzinski told the council that the board and college leadership are “supportive of and in agreement with this amendment.”

He was joined by JJC Executive Vice President Yolanda Farmer.

Farmer referred to the residency requirement in place when the apartments were built and said “housing demands have evolved as they often do.” She said the change in the city agreement “reflects present-day realities and serves the best interests of all.”

According to Farmer, 45 JJC students now live in the 128-apartment complex.

The comments by Farmer and Budzinski may have changed some minds on the council, which had many questions about the change in the residency rule at a workshop meeting on Monday.

“Coming here to talk to council definitely makes a difference,” said Councilwoman Suzanna Ibarra, who took a long pause before casting a vote in favor of lifting the residency rule.

“You hear a lot of things on day one, and you learn more on day two,” said Councilman Joe Clement, who also voted for the residency change.

Other yes votes were Mayor Terry D’Arcy and council members Pat Mudron, Sherri Reardon and Cesar Cardenas.

Voting no were Larry Hug, Juan Moreno and Jan Quillman.

On Monday, former JJC board Chairman Robert Wunderlich urged the council to keep in place the residency requirement that was part of the Planned Unit Development agreement under which the apartments were built.

Wunderlich said the city at that time insisted on the residency rule.

The apartments were built by the Joliet Junior College Foundation to create housing for students, a plan that never met expectations.

The foundation gave up ownership of the complex when it went into foreclosure in 2018.

The buyer of the complex now is selling it. Future owners, Midwest REO, wanted the residency rule lifted before completing the deal.

A representative for Midwest REO told the council Monday that the occupancy rate at Rock Run Residences is 95% but largely due to conventional tenants not affiliated with JJC.

“We really can’t speak to the past practice,” attorney Andrew Scott, representing Midwest REO, told the council on Tuesday. “Going forward when we purchase the property, we want to do the right thing.”

Scott said lifting the residency requirement does not mean Midwest REO will stop renting to students and others affiliated with JJC.

“You do need to be able to draw upon as large a pool of tenants as possible,” Scott said. “We’ll continue to draw students from Joliet Junior College.”

But the council decision Tuesday removed the last vestige of the 2001 agreement that tied the apartments to JJC.