Letters, coverage on Boeger miss point

The endless Letters to the Editor and articles about the supporters of the Boeger mental health facility are insulting to the readers. There is another side to this story that has been ignored by the Daily Herald.

The debate about this mental health facility isn’t about one side having the moral high ground and the other being heartless Neanderthals wanting the mentally ill living on the streets. Everybody wants supportive housing for the mentally ill, but some believe that the Boeger location is simply too small for the proposed project.

The Boeger developers and supporters are trying to put a 30-unit apartment building on less than 1 acre of land. On top of wanting to change the zoning of the land from commercial to institutional, they want enormous variances that have never been granted by the Village of Arlington Heights. There is not enough parking, green space or living area for the proposed residents. There is also no access to public transportation for the proposed residents.

Aside from all these problems, there is also the proposed cost of this project. The developer is using taxpayers’ dollars to fund this project. The estimated cost per unit (basically a studio apartment) is $300,000 per unit. How could anybody in good conscience think that this exorbitant amount per unit is the “moral thing” to do?

There are better locations in Arlington Heights, but they are more expensive. The developer wishes to maximize its profit by forcing this ill-conceived project onto that tiny parcel of land.

Arlington Heights did the right thing for its residents by rejecting this plan and the developer and its supporters rewarded them with a frivolous lawsuit. There is so much more to this story than the Daily Herald is reporting. All it takes is a little effort.

Paul Lee

Arlington Heights