Buffalo Grove president sends letter to Arlington Hts. over housing plan mentally ill

Craig Horwitz, a resident of Buffalo Grove's Mill Creek subdivision, calls it the Arlington Heights triangle.

Bounded by Arlington Heights Road, Dundee Road and Old Arlington Heights Road, the area is located in Arlington Heights, making it difficult to oppose development proposals.

That was the case when Mill Creek residents opposed the Timber Court condominiums. And it is the case with a new proposal to house residents with mental illness at 122 E. Boeger Road.

The Arlington Heights Plan Commission has narrowly recommended approval of the three-story, 30-unit building, a joint project between Thresholds, a nonprofit provider of psychiatric rehabilitation services, and Daveri Development Group.

Horwitz and Rob Sherman have pleaded with the Buffalo Grove Village Board to come to the aid of residents, who believe the proposal is wrong for the site.

But the village is limited in what it can do, Buffalo Grove Village President Elliott Hartstein has said.

Three Buffalo Grove village board members, Steven Trilling, Beverly Sussman and Jeffrey Berman, attended the plan commission meeting. And on Monday, Hartstein read a letter to the village board that he has sent to the village of Arlington Heights.

Hartstein wrote that Buffalo Grove "understands the need for facilities for people with special needs as is proposed, and fully supports the concept of such housing," adding, "The concern is not the use itself; it is the excessive variations that are proposed for the site, which are planning issues that may affect the ultimate residents of the project and the area of the proposal."

The variations include ones increasing the unit count from 16 to 30 and changing the number of parking spaces to approximately 24 from 62.

Hartstein wrote, "We respectfully urge that Arlington Heights follow the prescribed and well considered standards contained in your ordinances as you proceed with further review of this project."

Sussman said that as a former member for 15 years of the village's commission on residents with disabilities and as one who grew up in a house with a disabled father, she is sympathetic to the need. But she said that, given the number of variations, "They are making the site fit the development and not the development fit the site."

She said the site was in an industrial area where the view is a 129-foot radio antenna. "Let's not treat them like second-class citizens."

Horwitz added that he was disappointed that Mill Creek residents found out at the eleventh hour about the development. There was a neighborhood meeting, but only residents within 250 feet of the project were notified.

The Buffalo Grove board did formally oppose Timber Court, but Trustee Jeffrey Braiman said Arlington Heights might consider that a slap. Trustee DeAnn Glover said the resolutions against Timber Court didn't go over well in Arlington Heights. "They don't have to tell us anything," she said.