Arlington
Heights
Turns Its
Back on
Supportive
Housing
On
Monday
May 17,
the
Arlington
Heights
Village
Board
said
“no” to
supportive
housing
for
individuals
with
mental
illness.
By a 4-3
vote the
trustees
rejected
a
request
for the
zoning
necessary
for a
project
initiated
by the
North/Northwest
Suburban
Task
Force on
Supportive
Housing
for
Individuals
with
Mental
Illness
to
proceed.
The Task
Force,
as it is
known,
is made
of
representatives
from
five
area
NAMI
chapters,
including
NAMI BA,
as well
as of
parents
of adult
children
with
mental
illness
who have
been
unable
to find
supportive
housing
for
their
family
members.
The Task
Force
was
begun
about
eight
years
ago
around a
parent’s
kitchen
table.
It
incorporated
three
years
ago, and
is a
501(c)(3)
non-profit.
The Task
Force
initially
contacted
Thresholds,
a well
established
and
highly
regarded
Chicago
area
psychiatric
rehabilitation
center
that
provides
mental
health
services
to
more
than
7,000
people
annually.
The Task
Force
also
worked
with the
Corporation
for
Supportive
Housing,
an
nation-wide
non-profit
that
provides
technical
assistance,
information,
networking
and even
small
loans to
help
create
supportive
housing
for a
variety
of
people.
Through
CSH, the
Task
Force
was able
to
contact
a number
of
developers
who
specialized
in
supportive
housing.
Ultimately
the
group
settled
on
Daveri
Development
LLC, a
Chicago
based
organization
that has
developed
supportive
housing
for
individuals
with
disabilities
across
Illinois.
The
group’s
plan was
to
develop
a 30
unit
permanent
supportive
housing
apartment.
They had
secured
a lot at
the
north
end of
Arlington
Heights,
on
Boeger
Dr.,
just
south of
Buffalo
Grove
High
School.
Daveri
and
Thresholds
had
skillfully
navigated
the
project
through
the
rezoning
process,
securing
recommendations
for
approval
from the
Arlington
Heights
Housing
Commission,
the
Design
Commission,
the Plat
and
Subdivision
Commission
and the
Plan
Commission
along
the way.
But it
was not
enough.
Once the
“Not In
My Back
Yard” (NIMBY)
groups
learned
of the
proposal,
they
raised a
storm of
protest,
inundating
the
village
trustees
with
e-mails
and
phone
calls
urging
them to
reject
the
proposal.
They
claimed
that the
residents
of the
apartments
would be
dangerous,
that
they
needed
24 hour
supervision,
that
their
neighborhoods
would
not be
safe.
One
blogger
even
wrote
that if
the
project
were
built,
everyone
else in
the
neighborhood
should
be sure
to have
an
escape
plan
from
their
house,
because
it was
well-known
that
many
people
with
mental
illness
are
arsonists
and
would be
setting
nearby
houses
on fire!
The
NIMBY’s
lack of
knowledge
and fear
of
people
with
mental
illness
was
astounding.
And,
unfortunately,
fear
prevailed.
The four
trustees
who
eventually
voted
“no,”
all
spoke
highly
of the
project
and said
it was
much
needed,
but that
it was
in the
wrong
location.
Some
expressed
concern
for the
safety
of the
neighborhood
and
others
defended
the
sanctity
of
Arlington
Heights’
zoning
regulations,
saying
that the
project
was
asking
for too
many
zoning
variances.
Another
location,
they
said,
would be
better.
Task
Force
members
were
exceedingly
disappointed
at the
results
of the
meeting,
and
some
wondered
whether
the kind
remarks
by some
of the
Village
Trustees
were, in
part
at
least, a
smokescreen
for fear
of
mental
illness,
because
anywhere
in
Arlington
Heights
a
project
like
this
might be
built
would
require
zoning
variances.
So some
thought
that the
four
trustees
seemed
to be
saying,
we like
the
project
and want
it to be
built,
but we
won’t
make the
zoning
changes
necessary
to allow
it to be
built,
which
might
have
been
sort of
like
saying,
“Don’t
build it
in our
town.”
So the
Task
Force is
regrouping
and will
have to
determine
where
they go
from
here.
Should
they try
again in
Arlington
Heights?
Should
they try
another
town?
Would
the
NIMBYians
try to
kill it
in the
new
town? If
so
should
that
deter
them
from
proceeding?
Stay
tuned
for
further
developments.
And to
learn
more
about
the Task
Force,
contact
their
website:
http://housingtaskforce.org/
