Criminal checks likely for possible senior home in N. Aurora

It looks like Granny won't have to get a criminal-background check to move in to a proposed assisted-living center in North Aurora.

Provided she is 55 or older. Any residents younger than that will have to be checked.

The North Aurora village board Monday had few questions about the plan, unlike at a contentious meeting in April when it was first discussed.

Then, some trustees wanted every resident to undergo a check. They also wanted the special-use permit limited to the initial owner, Mark Sorrentino. He protested that such a restriction would kill his project, as he doubted any bank would lend him money if it couldn't be assured the center could continue to exist if the ownership changed.

The project would be in the Randall Road Commercial Center subdivision, at Randall Road and Miller Drive.

The village now proposes to annually review the center and reserves the right to revoke the special-use permit if health and safety laws are repeatedly broken.

"I think it protects everybody involved," Sorrentino said.

The board's concerns were driven by problems the village had with a nursing home on the east side of town. That home opened in the 1970s as a sheltered-care facility specifically for the aged. But in recent years it started housing mentally ill people, and about 60 percent of its residents were younger than 60.

Neighbors and officials from a school next door complained of seeing residents urinating outside the building, going door-to-door in the neighborhood asking for money, wandering on to the school's playground while children were there, and swearing at school students and staffers.

The village couldn't limit ages, as the home accepted Medicare payments, and Medicare rules prohibit age discrimination.

In 2009 the village revoked the home's old permit and enacted a new one, requiring criminal background checks of all residents and more secure doors and fencing. The background checks are designed to keep out people convicted of crimes against people, such as assault, and many property crimes.

The rules seemed to have helped, the board learned Monday night.

"We have noticed a significant drop-off in calls for emergency help," said Scott Buening, the village's community development director.

For the new assisted-living center, the only people under age 55 allowed will be relatives of older residents, such as spouses and siblings.

It would have up to 168 units; no more than 10 percent are likely to be double-occupancy, Sorrentino said. He intends to market it for people with memory impairments, such as Alzheimer's disease.

The village board will vote on the permit request June 21.

Checks: Measures working at east-side nursing home