Road smoother for a drug rehab center near Campton Hills?

Campton Hills Village President Harry Blecker could describe the Kane County Zoning Board of Appeals public hearing he walked out of Monday night only as "highly irregular."

Blecker and the village are taking a firm stance against a proposed drug and alcohol treatment center that wants to locate on the Campton Hills border. But when Blecker watched Kane County Board attorney Patrick Kinnally walk into a closed-session meeting with the zoning board last week, he knew the fight to force a supermajority vote by the full county board on the permit application was lost.

Kinnally worked on both the defense side and the jury side as he consulted for both the county's development director, Mark VanKerkhoff, and the zoning board during the board's public hearing process.

The hearing was triggered by an appeal of the treatment center's application by Campton Hills residents Abram and Jolene Andrzejewski. They accused VanKerhoff of improperly following the county's zoning ordinance in handling the treatment center's application. They believe the facility is so far out of character with any business allowed in the county that an addition to the ordinance is needed to allow the treatment center to open.

That change would require a supermajority vote by the full county board. Instead, VanKerhoff moved the application forward without taking a position on what the county board must do.

In a 6-0 vote, the zoning board members said VanKerkhoff did nothing improper.

"I think that our zoning hearing officer followed the zoning ordinance," said zoning board member Roxanne Stover. "In reading everything very thoroughly, going over everything a dozen times and having read this zoning ordinance for a lot of years, I believe our zoning officer followed it."

That means no supermajority will be necessary if the full county board agrees with the ruling. The zoning board is only an advisory body. All final decisions rest with the full county board.

Barb Wojnicki is the county board member who represents the area where the treatment center wants to locate. She's already vocally opposing the application because she believes at least 90 percent of Campton Hills residents don't want the facility nearby.

"I believe we need facilities like this, but this treatment center isn't going to serve our local residents," Wojnicki said. "This private facility is going to serve clients who are flown in."

The facility would be on the 120-acre property on Silver Glen Road that was the former home of Glenwood School. The center would host a maximum of 120 residents and offer detoxification services. Projections forecast 120 new jobs would be created.

First, the zoning board must host a public hearing on the underlying application for the facility. A final vote is not expected until early 2016.