Roselle trustees are set to reject a request for a special-use permit for a transitional psychiatric facility on Lake Street adjacent to the Alexian Brothers Medical Center.
At a committee of the whole meeting last week, the board voted 5-2 to reject a text amendment change in a petition from the Transitional Living Partnership and the Menninger Foundation of Topeka, Kan., saying that lot coverage was too extensive and that the Lake Street location was unsuitable.
The board told the petitioners to seek other sites within the village.
Mayor James Rak contends the site is lucrative as a sales-tax potential. But the 3 1/4-acre parcel has been on the market for eight years and is not deep enough to support many of the possible business uses allowed in the area, according to a local real estate agent.
”I have a problem with saying that we want something better on that site,” said Trustee Ron Sass, who supports the special-use permit. ”What better use are we waiting for?”
Sass said that Lake Street is inundated with enough strip malls and car-care centers and that it was highly improbable that a car dealership would buy the site.
According to Hal Francke, attorney for the psychiatric group, his clients will make a last-ditch plea before the board Sept. 9.
Francke said he believes the village is treading on ”shaky legal ground” in unsubstantiated denial of the text amendment. Perhaps in the time allotted until the next formal board meeting, the trustees will rethink their position after consultation with the village attorney and reverse their decision, Francke said.
”In my opinion, there is no legal basis to deny the text amendment in general or deny approval of this site in particular,” he said.
In addition, there is the question of bias and probable violation of fair-housing laws that could come into play after a formal no vote, Francke said.
”If we do, it is a shame we would have to do so in an adversary manner. It`s amazing how fear propels some people,” said Northbrook psychiatrist Steven Field, who will head the facility once it is built in a collaboration with the Menninger Foundation. Field and his business partner, Ralph Picker, spearheaded the Illinois project.
Preliminary preparations for the Roselle site has cost the partnership between $30,000 to $50,000.
The proposed $4.5 million, two-story residential center would have 40 two-bedroom furnished apartments. Residents who met admission criteria and suffered from mild depression or anxiety would call the center home from six weeks to several months.
