The Urbana City Council is scheduled to discuss creating a domestic partner registry when it meets tonight.

A domestic partner registry would provide an official way to recognize long-term relationships between people who are not married, said alderwoman Danielle Chynoweth. Cook County and the Village of Oak Park, a Chicago suburb, are two places in Illinois that have the registries.

The issue came up while the City Council was reviewing a zoning ordinance that increased fines for landlords who allow more than four unrelated people to live in a property, said alderwoman Ruth Wyman. Before passing the ordinance during their Jan. 18 meeting, several aldermen expressed concerns about how the law would affect unmarried couples – gay and lesbian couples, specifically. Wyman requested the item be added to the agenda for tonight’s meeting.

Under the law, a married couple could legally live in a home with three other non-related people, but a same-sex couple could not, said city attorney Steve Holz.

Alderman Chris Alix said he thought allowing domestic partners to be treated equivalently to married couples for purposes of the zoning ordinance makes sense. However, he said he thought that careful considerations need to be made before a registry could be realized, such as how changes would apply to other areas of city law and in relation to federal and state laws.

Wyman said it was uncertain whether there was majority support on the City Council for a domestic partnership registry. If support exists, aldermen need to decide what requirements and rules are necessary to implement a domestic partner registry, Wyman said. Two considerations are whether only same-sex couples would be eligible to register or if opposite-sex couples would also be included, and if couples must live in Urbana to register or if the registry would be available to everyone, she said.

Alderman Joe Whelan said he opposes the addition of the domestic partner registry.

“It’s not within our range of responsibility as a city council to create this kind of sanction for the bonding of people when they are not married,” he said.

Whelan said his opposition was not based on ideology but because he did not believe it was the role of the City Council to implement the registry.

Whelan, the lone elected Republican on the City Council, said the other members of the council often do not consider his opinions.

“I can hardly get a second (to speak),” he said.

Consequently, he said he does not think his opposition will have much of an impact.

“(The other aldermen) will have their cronies there to speak in favor of it,” he said.

Mayor Tod Satterthwaite and other aldermen have expressed support for the creation of a registry.

“In a city like this where we have so many people living in untraditional relationships – same sex and opposite sex – I really think that we just need to bring it up to the 21st Century and figure out some way in which we can help recognize relationships,” Chynoweth said.

Chynoweth said she would like to a see a system in which two people could register as domestic partners if they shared a bank account, lived together or raised children together.

Chynoweth said she supported full marriage rights for all people, but that deciding who can be married is not up to the city.

Students and staff involved with LGBT issues described a domestic partner registry as a step forward for gay and lesbian students, but said they hoped further steps toward equality would be taken.

Morgan Polikoff, co-president of the student group PRIDE, said he thinks full marriage equality should be the goal but said until state laws make that possible he supports Urbana adding a registry.

Domestic partner registries are beneficial because they provide an opportunity for people who cannot get married to affirm their commitment to each other, said Curt McKay, director of the University office of LGBT Concerns. Registries also make it easier to enforce anti-discrimination laws and administer employee benefits, he said.

McKay said Urbana has had a tradition of being active in supporting LGBT rights, noting that they were one of the first cities in the United States to add sexual orientation to its non-discrimination ordinance.

“It’s another area where Urbana is taking leadership,” McKay said.

The City Council will meet at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at 400 S. Vine St.