Haymarket sign goes up, but Itasca 'stands by' decision to reject drug rehab center

Haymarket Center has put its name atop the former Holiday Inn in Itasca amid a legal fight over whether the nonprofit group can use the hotel building as an addiction treatment and recovery facility.

Haymarket filed a federal lawsuit against the village in January 2022, arguing that Itasca officials violated civil rights laws by rejecting a proposed 240-bed treatment center at the site of the vacant hotel.

Although the lawsuit remains unresolved, Haymarket has installed a new sign with its logo of a deep-rooted tree in the center of the east side of the building, facing I-290. Haymarket, one of the largest addiction treatment providers in the region, owns the property.

"Seeing the Haymarket Center sign on our Itasca location, especially as we mark the end of National Recovery Month, makes us very hopeful this facility will soon open," Haymarket President and CEO Dan Lustig said in a statement. "We remain committed to realizing our goal of providing essential treatment for substance use disorders in this region where access to such care is limited."

After two years and more than 35 public hearings, Itasca trustees in November 2021 unanimously voted against the project. The subsequent lawsuit alleged officials violated the Fair Housing Act and other laws prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities, including patients in treatment for substance use and mental health disorders.

Village officials, however, are adamant that Itasca, a town of less than 10,000, lacks the infrastructure to support a treatment center that would serve more than 4,700 patients a year.

"Itasca is a community that cares, but the board's decision was based on the fact that the added costs and a drain on resources with Haymarket in our village were too much to bear," Mayor Jeff Pruyn wrote in a letter to residents Monday.

As the property owners, Haymarket applied for and received approval to erect a sign that complies with Itasca codes, village spokesperson Lissa Druss said in a statement.

"The village strongly stands by the board's decision made to deny Haymarket's request to approve a 240-bed facility that would place an excessive burden on village resources, and the village is looking forward to its day in court," Druss said.

There is currently no pending court date, a Haymarket spokesperson said.

As the overdose crisis has worsened, advocates say the facility would make treatment more accessible in DuPage County. Last year, 150 people died from overdoses in DuPage, compared to 137 in 2021, according to the county coroner's office.

But Haymarket faced stiff opposition from many residents, who insisted the facility would cost the town tax revenue, hurt property values and strain emergency medical services.

Residents rallied before public hearings, posted yard signs, wore matching "small town proud" T-shirts and created a "No Haymarket Itasca" Facebook page.

Haymarket's lawsuit claims officials "strategically fostered, intentionally contributed to, and were unduly negatively influenced by this 'not in my backyard' opposition."

Social media posts and emails to the village "revealed the bias residents harbored against people with substance use disorder," the lawsuit said.

In addition to substance use disorder treatment, the center would provide behavioral health and primary care for adults regardless of their ability to pay.

The lawsuit argues that Itasca violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and other anti-discrimination laws when it required that Haymarket submit a zoning application as a planned development rather than as a health care facility. As a result, Haymarket was held to a "higher and more onerous standard than would have been required had it been allowed to apply for a special use as a health care facility."

The mayor has said village officials "have done everything possible to ensure a fair proceeding."

"Nothing is more important to the board and me than safeguarding the resources that contribute to the well-being of our community," Pruyn wrote Monday. "I maintain that Haymarket's request for our Village was unreasonable."

Court filings last year indicate attorneys for Haymarket and the Itasca defendants met several times, discussed a structured mediation process and formally engaged a highly-qualified private mediator.