Key Kane County official supports residential plan for Elburn religious retreat

A plan to add rental housing to a Hindu-based retreat near Elburn received a key endorsement from a Kane County Forest Preserve District commissioner Friday.

Drew Frasz told fellow commissioners he "would have absolutely no problem living right next to" the M.A. Center Chicago. He doesn't. But the district's Johnson's Mound Forest Preserve abuts the 140-acre retreat on two sides. That will make the district a key player in winning support for the plan. The vision calls for 72 homes and 192 apartments capable of housing up to 500 people. The plan needs special permission from Kane County to become a reality.

Forest preserve district commissioners also serve as Kane County Board members. The retreat is in Frasz' district. He serves as vice chairman of the county board.

Frasz said the retreat was in "pretty bad shape" before the M.A. Center purchased it in 2012. The location is the former home of a Seventh-day Adventist boarding school. The school closed in 2007.

"It really fell into disrepair," Frasz said. "Pipes burst. Paint peeled. But this group, they've been great. I've worked with them since day one."

Frasz said the numbers in the housing plan sound large, particularly for the setting. But the number of people and homes only reflect every possible vision for the site over the next 20 years. The county's development department encouraged M.A. Center to provide a full overview of every possible vision for the location. Frasz said a recent meeting with M.A. Center ownership and neighbors resolved most of the fears people had about the size of the proposed project.

"The biggest single question was if people moved into the retreat property with children, would they have to pay taxes," Frasz said. "The answer is yes. They will pay full property taxes on any residential unit. There's no lacking in paying their share. And everything they have planned will all be contained in the original footprint of the facilities that were already there."

Fellow commissioner and county board member Phil Lewis said he appreciated Frasz' endorsement. The issue boils down to how the retreat plans fit into the long-range plans of the county.

"I think we all appreciate the higher degree of pressure we as an organization will make decisions about on regarding the density in these rural areas," Lewis said. "How does this conform to with county's long-range plans to have rural residential with larger land parcels? If this is a variation from that, what are the compelling reasons that we should vary?"

The plan will come before a county board committee as soon as May 17.