Kane County rehab center proponents downplay risks
A firm proposing a private drug and alcohol rehab center near Campton Hills continued arguing its case Tuesday night, with experts testifying the facility wouldn't increase traffic or hurt property values and should be approved to generate tax revenue at the site of a former private school.
"This is a compatible reuse of an unused, untaxed facility," said Chris Lannert, a Geneva-based landscape architect who reviewed the plan, told the Kane County Zoning Board of Appeals. "It's an underused asset and should be put on the tax rolls."
Maxxam Partners LLC wants to convert the former Glenwood School for Boys, 41W400 Silver Glen Road, into a 120-bed, private inpatient rehabilitation center.
The Maxxam plan is nearly the same as a proposal brought to Campton Hills trustees and rejected in early 2013. The plan was revived last fall with a capacity of 28 more patients than the first failed plan.
Maxxam officials said the facility would be state-of-the-art and not depend on state funding to survive. Maxxam officials also say the development would pay $337,000 a year in property taxes and create 120 jobs. They also have said recovering addicts will be carefully screened and are not violent people.
Residents and local governmental groups, such as the Campton Hills village board, believe the rehab center could pose safety risks from patients escaping the facility, burden emergency fire and ambulance services with calls, and hurt property values.
Michael MaRous, a real estate consultant who conducted a market impact study on the plan, said the empty school, not necessarily the rehab center, could hurt property values.
"Uncertainty is a huge negative," MaRous said. "In this situation, you have a vacant building. Vacant buildings deteriorate."
Maxxam officials said the facility would generate only five to 10 emergency calls a year, a number that opponents called "unrealistic."
The zoning board will continue its review at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Kane County Branch Court, 530 S. Randall Road, St. Charles. The zoning board's recommendation is advisory and the full county board has the final say.