Kane Co. goof pushes restart button on homeless shelter application

A division among Valley View residents in the St. Charles area about a possible overnight homeless shelter will extend for at least another month or two without a resolution because of a county mistake.

All the neighboring properties of the proposed overnight homeless shelter must receive notification about the pending application before it can be approved. The county mistakenly sent notice to the prior owner of one of the neighboring properties instead of the current owners, who told the county they were unaware of the homeless shelter until the county recently came forward about the mistake. As a result, the county must restart the public hearing process on the application, a fact that Angelo Valdes said will only add more angst to his life.

Valdes is the leader of the H.E.L.P.S. Ministry and is applying for the homeless shelter permit. Many of the public concerns voiced by neighbors have heaped various accusations on Valdes as a person, Valdes said.

"My biggest concern was the comments at the last public meeting I was involved in were not about the shelter, were not about the application, they were about me," Valdes said. "I've received threats from many people against my person and my property. Now I'm told there wasn't proper notification. I strongly disagree."

Valdes made his plea to continue the application process as is Tuesday before the Kane County Board's Development Committee. His plea was met with another round of questions by Vicki Sears, one of several area residents who've actively petitioned against the homeless shelter.

"If the shelter does come in, I want to see that it's run with strict regulations and strict rules and there are people to hold it accountable," Sears said. "(Valdes) says he has an excellent record with strict operation procedures. I would like to see what the strict operating procedures are."

The Development Committee did not discuss the issue since the shelter's homeless application has already been kicked back to the public hearing phase. It remains a question about whether Valdes will show up for the new round of hearings to defend his application and possibly face more personal attacks. County board attorney Ken Shepro said it's possible the county would then dismiss Valdes's application for failure to appear.