Arlington Hts. housing project for mentally ill coming back to life
The parents group whose proposal for an apartment building for mentally ill adults was rejected in May by the Arlington Heights Village Board is investigating changes and hopes to resubmit the project.
Called "supportive affordable housing," the $9 million Boeger Place Apartments was proposed as 30 apartments on 1 acre at 120 and 122 E. Boeger Road, just east of Arlington Heights Road and south of Dundee Road.
The group is planning meetings that neighbors of the site will be invited to and hopes to submit new plans to the village as early as next month, said Hugh Brady, co-president of the North/Northwest Suburban Task Force on Supportive Housing for Individuals with Mental Illness.
The village board voted 4-3 on May 18 to deny the rezoning and variances the plan needed to move ahead. More than 225 people attended a standing-room-only meeting, and many of the 50 who spoke before the board voted at 1:30 a.m. opposed the project.
The land is adjacent to Buffalo Grove and across the street from Buffalo Grove High School. Elliott Hartstein, president of the Buffalo Grove Village Board, wrote a letter to the Arlington Heights board expressing concern about the project.
The group is looking into adding parking next door or across the street and increasing the time that paid staffers are in the building, said Jessica Berzac, vice president of Daveri Development Group, the for-profit company that is working with the parents group.
Brady said one of their goals is to decrease the number of variances needed by increasing the size of the apartments and adding parking.
Village officials and others also expressed concern over the project's density, because if the zoning is changed from commercial to institutional only 16 units would be allowed rather than 30.
The apartments were designed to be efficiencies and 1- and 2-bedroom, but Arlington Heights code does not take into consideration that the number of residents in this building would be fewer than in most 16-unit buildings, said Berzac.
She said it is important for the group to try to have real dialogue with neighbors and to show the village board that other sites are not available in Arlington Heights.
The Arlington Heights planning and zoning department staff made it clear it would not support rezoning commercial land at a location believed very desirable for business development, Berzac said.
There is one other site available on a side street, but with a price tag of $1 million more it would negate the idea of affordable housing, she said.
Mayor Arlene Mulder said task force members contacted her to see if their new proposal has a chance.
"I said it depends on what they come back and present," Mulder said. " I told them to read the minutes with the comments from trustees and the people in the audience."
She said the project could be approved if the concerns raised were addressed.
Mulder, who voted in favor of the project in May, said one of the big complaints was that the group did not talk with enough residents in the area.
Brady said this time letters announcing the plans and asking people to let the group know if they want to be invited to public meetings have been sent to taxpayers of record in a larger area than required by law and to homeowners associations of nearby communities in both Arlington Heights and Buffalo Grove.
Two public meetings are scheduled. The first is at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 19 at St. Edna's Church, 2525 N. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights. Another is tentatively set for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14 at Kingswood United Methodist Church, 401 W. Dundee Road, Buffalo Grove.
Brady said any land they choose in Arlington Heights would have to be rezoned because there is no vacant property that presently has institutional zoning.
The parents' task force has partnered with Daveri and Thresholds, a nonprofit group that provides services to mentally ill people.
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<h2>Stories</h2>
<ul class="links">
<li><a href="/story/?id=381543">Arlington Heights votes 4-3 against home for mentally ill <span class="date"> [5/18/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=375430">Arlington Hts. apartments for mentally disabled pass 1st test <span class="date"> [4/23/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=374833">Arlington Hts. to scrutinize housing proposal for mentally ill <span class="date"> [4/21/10]</span></a></li>
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