The Arlington Heights plan commission voted 5-2 against a plan to build a 3-story, 25-unit permanent supportive housing development for people with disabilities and veterans at 1519 S. Arlington Heights Road. But the village board has the final say.
Courtesy of Village of Arlington Heights

Citing concerns ranging from crime and tenant vetting to building height and compatibility with the neighborhood, the Arlington Heights plan commission has rejected revised plans for a 3-story, 25-unit permanent supportive housing development for people with disabilities and veterans on South Arlington Heights Road.

But the 5-2 vote late Wednesday from the advisory panel is only a recommendation. The final decision rests with the nine-member village board, the majority of whom supported earlier iterations of the plan.

Chicago-based nonprofit affordable housing developer Full Circle Communities changed its original plan and returned for another public hearing at village hall — this one lasting nearly four hours — largely due to the peculiarities of state zoning laws.

The original plans for Grace Terrace, at 1519 S. Arlington Heights Road, came with three zoning variations — for parking, a loading zone requirement and lot width reduction — that would require a two-thirds majority vote of village trustees. But the revised plan eliminates that and now only a simple majority is needed to approve the development and rezone the 4-acre property.

The new plan flips the orientation of the building, so that the front door and parking lot now faces the main street instead of neighboring single-family homes to the east. A reorientation was seen as a key consideration for two of the three village trustees — Jim Tinaglia and Jim Bertucci — who voted against the first plan in the winter.

The third trustee, Scott Shirley, said he wouldn’t support anything above two stories. Several plan commissioners agreed Wednesday night.

“I don’t want to see a 3-story building in these people’s backyard,” said Commissioner Terry Ennes.

The latest revisions of Full Circle Communities’ project in Arlington Heights calls for a fence and landscape buffer along the east property line. But many neighbors still object to the 3-story building height.
Courtesy of Village of Arlington Heights

Commission Chair Jay Cherwin said the project would be a better fit further south along Arlington Heights Road, which has more density and taller buildings, but was “out of character” in an area of single-family homes.

Officials said lengthening the building to reduce its height would impact the stormwater detention area to the south and force them to install a costly underground system to the tune of $1 million, making the project financially infeasible.

Susan Dawson and Joseph Lorenzini, the two commissioners who favored the project, questioned whether opposition — from their fellow panelists and many of those who filled the board room and an overflow room — was focused on issues of land use and zoning.

Neighborhood opponents, who outnumbered supporters 2-to-1, cited police reports they obtained through the Freedom of Information Act of criminal activity and police calls to other properties managed by Full Circle. Several commissioners grilled Joshua Wilmoth, Full Circle’s president and CEO, about the tenant vetting process.

In one heated exchange on the dais, Commissioner Bruce Green said the building height was only one thing to take into account.

“It’s a 3-story consideration, but there are other considerations here tonight,” Green said.

“What are the other considerations, Bruce?” Dawson asked.

“The neighborhood and what they think of it. Safety. And I don’t really have to answer to you, Sue,” Green replied.

Dawson said the panel recommends zoning changes and taller building heights “all the time,” so she questioned her colleagues’ hesitancy in this case.

Susan Dawson

“I wanted to hear why this property itself was a bad situation — not why we’re guessing and presuming that the residents of the property would be bad,” Dawson said. “And yet over and over and over and over again — with very, very few exceptions — all I heard was ‘crime, danger, crime, danger, crime, danger.’ … This is a ‘not in my backyard situation.’ This is really a concern over the residents of this community, not whether or not this is an appropriate fit.”

A date for the village board to take up the matter hasn’t been set, and it’s possible Full Circle will make further revisions to its plans before then.