Editorial: New proposal gives Palatine new chance for leadership on disabled housing

To disabled individuals seeking a place to live with a degree of independence, the headline is all too familiar: "Housing project clears hurdle." That was our headline on Saturday regarding the Palatine Planning Commission's unanimous approval of a proposed 44-unit housing development for the disabled. But advocates for the disabled will be excused if they don't get too excited, yet.

Three years ago, a proposed unit of housing for the disabled also had a unanimous vote of confidence from the planning board, but Palatine village council members rejected it at the last minute when they decided that the long-vacant manufacturing site on which it was to be located held too much promise of industrial development to risk giving up.

Now, a request to purchase an undeveloped parcel on Spruce Drive may give them a new chance to play a leadership role in meeting the housing needs of the disabled in the suburbs. The site is tucked behind an auto repair shop and a hot dog restaurant slightly west of Rand Road north of Dundee. Its other neighbors are, primarily, apartment complexes. Only one person turned up at a public hearing to express concerns about the project.

The developer, Up Development of Chicago, is seeking a variance on parking spaces, calling for just 45 spaces at the three-story building. Village code requires almost twice that many spaces for a conventional apartment complex, but Up Development presented documentation showing 45 will be sufficient for a project of this type.

Advocates of housing for the disabled decry a serious shortage of available space, yet it is a disappointing fact of life that village boards too often ignore the advice of their expert consultants in the face of emotional protests not always rooted in fact, leaving the disabled to keep searching for a site so remote or so unsuitable for any other use that no one can find a reason to deny them.

Up Development's representatives will make their pitch for the planned Spruce Village to the Palatine village council next Monday. They can expect some tough questions - and they should. Elected leaders have a responsibility to ensure that the projects coming to town, whether residential, commercial or industrial, will be safe and consistent with the needs and values of the community.

Providing safe, affordable housing for some of the most vulnerable citizens in society could hardly be inconsistent with any community's values. So, we hope Up Development will give Palatine council members reason to seize an opportunity they spurned at their last encounter with disabled housing - and confirm for the disabled a reason to celebrate.