Arlington Heights likes 16-apartment plan for people with disabilities
It may be the same piece of land as the doomed Boeger Place project, but the plan and the initial response from the Arlington Heights village board on Monday night were vastly different.
UP Development LLC presented a plan for a 16-unit apartment building called Heart's Place, which would house residents with disabilities, to the village board on Monday and was met with mostly positive feedback.
"I'm very happy to see this project is much different from (Boeger Place)," Village President Tom Hayes said. "It's something I think we can at least explore."
After months of debate in 2010, the board rejected Boeger Place, a 30-unit building for people with mental illness at the same location. The project's developer, Daveri Development Group, sued the village in federal court, claiming officials violated laws on fair housing and disabilities, but a judge in 2012 dismissed the claims.
Jessica Berzac, vice president of development, said this project will instead focus on people with any disability, and that since every apartment will have two bedrooms, it will likely be a place for more families.
Berzac said the building would also be a home for families suffering domestic violence, which is classified as a disability under state law. Developers are working with WINGS and the Kenneth Young Center to have social services on site.
Monday was only a discussion of the project under early review, a process where the board gives feedback before a developer goes through the formal application process. UP Development will still need to go through the plan commission and receive village board approval for the site to be rezoned to institutional, along with a few other variances.
The first floor will be a mixture of residences, office space and community space, and the second floor will consist of only apartments, according to the plans.
Trustees said they were glad to see the developers back with a modified proposal.
"I supported it then and I support this too," said Robin LaBedz, who was on the plan commission when Boeger Place originally came through. "The need is great. Even if it's down to 16 units, 16 is better than zero."
Trustee John Scaletta said he liked that the apartment sizes are much larger than what was previously planned - ranging from 800 square feet to 1,200 square feet.
"I would say this is significantly better than what was proposed before," he said. "This is much more reasonable."