Campton Hills rehab center plan draws more public ire

Facing another onslaught of criticism about a proposed addiction treatment facility, members of the Campton Hills Plan Commission said there was only a 1 percent chance they’d cast a vote on the project Monday night.

A barrage of questions by audience members stretched the public hearing late into the night.

More than 100 residents filled a church gymnasium to pepper commissioners and representatives for the proposed Kiva Recovery Center with questions about the police, fire and water/sewer infrastructure needs of the project. At least that’s what residents were supposed to ask about.

Audience grumbling quickly moved to attempts to shout down answers to questions. If it wasn’t apparent after the first public hearing on the proposed drug and alcohol addiction treatment center, neighbors made their opposition loud and clear Monday night.

Perhaps the most substantive line of questioning came via a series of questions about whether such a treatment center is a legal special use under the zoning guidelines for the land, which is owned by the Glenwood School for Boys on Silver Glen Road. Audience members suggested local zoning laws set the only medical use allowable for the land as a hospital, nursing home or convalescent center.

But Patrick Griffin, an attorney for the Kiva Center, indicated he believes the drug and alcohol treatment center they propose falls under that description. Indeed, Griffin said his organization’s application actually restricts his client’s use of the site to only an addiction center use, rather than the broader use of a “nursing home.”

Village staff members addressed the opposing viewpoints only by saying the disagreement would be noted in the public record and further investigated.

But other issues regarding the project became more clear. An engineering report gave the center clearance to start operating from day one in terms of its irrigation and sewage capacity. However, future growth beyond 110 people at the site at any one time could require $685,000 worth of upgrades, a report stated. That price tag would be a low hurdle for the project. The average 30-day stay for a patient is expected to cost $30,000.

Fire district officials also signed off on the project as not being overly burdensome to local fire and paramedic services. Kiva Center officials have agreed to pay the costs of calls to the treatment center for anything above and beyond normal use. One projection sets that normal use at fewer than 10 paramedic calls to the facility per year.

Kiva Center has also agreed to cut a check to the fire district for the property tax revenue the district will miss out on receiving from the center until tax collections officially begin about 18 months after the center opens. The property is expected to sell for $8 million if the village approves the project. That would equal about $6,000 a year in property tax revenue to the fire district.

Plan commissioners will likely take a vote on the project at their next meeting. The date for that meeting has not yet been announced.