Business went on as usual at FitzJoy equestrian farm Wednesday in Palos Park.
Owners groomed their horses, put them through various paces in the arenas and rode them along the miles of trails in the forest preserves next to the stable grounds.
But Wednesday night, the stable’s future was put in question when a nationwide developer of assisted-living centers for seniors took its case to the Palos Park Plan Commission in the face of stiff opposition to its requested zoning change for the 9-acre farm.
Assisted Living Investments, a partnership between Sun Healthcare Group Inc. and Hammes Corp., has offered to buy FitzJoy Farm, 12211 S. La Grange Rd., for $1.8 million. Alan Durrant, vice president of Hammes, detailed the company’s plans to construct a residential center containing 120 apartments for seniors.
Durrant said the center would generate $338,889 in property-tax revenue for the village, compared with the $7,000 currently paid by the stable. The proposed two-story building, parking lot and landscaping would occupy about 2 of the 9 acres. The remainder, which includes about an acre of wetlands, would be undeveloped, he said.
Durrant said the center would be an economic and aesthetic benefit to the community.
“Right now, it really isn’t that good looking,” Durrant said of the stable. “The horses are nice, but there are metal horse barns and that big pile of manure in the back that residents look at. Our facility is a very attractive building, and we will landscape extensively, and I think it will be a real complement to the village.”
Horse owners, Palos Park residents, open-land advocates and the Cook County Forest Preserve District are opposed to the development at the stable site.
But Durrant may have a legal ace in the hole. In 1982, the Illinois Appellate Court declared unconstitutional Palos Park’s application of its zoning laws against another would-be developer of land next to the stable.
The stable provides access to 32 miles of riding trails in the 10,000 acres of woods in the surrounding Palos division of the Forest Preserve District. Palos Park Mayor Donald H. Jeanes and Roberta Rudolph, executive director of the Palos-Orland Conservation Committee, each have written letters urging the district to buy the property and continue its equestrian character.
But two of the stable’s owners, Robert and Barbara Joyce, said they want to give up the equestrian business because it is not profitable. At Wednesday’s meeting, Robert Joyce said, “In 1996, we made a net profit of $795. This is not a moneymaker. We want to sell.”
But some residents at the meeting shouted that it was more important to take care of the horses.
Joe Nevius, superintendent of the Forest Preserve District, acknowledged at the meeting that the district lacks the funds to buy the parcel.
The battle lines were drawn weeks before the meeting.
In the May issue of the village’s official newsletter, Palos Park officials indicated a reluctance to approve the project, saying the center doesn’t appear to be in keeping with the “village’s current, generally favored use for the property.”
In an interview before the Plan Commission meeting, lawyers for Durrant questioned whether Jeanes’ letter to the Forest Preserve District and the view expressed in the May newsletter might not indicate bias on the part of the village.
“A village is supposed to give you due process, allow you to present your case, give you a fair hearing,” said Donna Pugh, a lawyer for Durrant.
Jeanes said no bias was intended, but said he believed that an equestrian farm is more in keeping with the surrounding forest preserves and that the village’s current comprehensive plan and zoning do not allow for assisted-living centers.
In the 1980s, the owner of a 19-acre tract abutting the stable property on the north was denied a zoning change to build multifamily housing units. Among other things, the village said, the proposed development did not fit with the character of Palos Park and conflicted with its comprehensive plan.
But in 1982, the Illinois Appellate Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that Palos Park applied its zoning law unconstitutionally in denying the requested change.
Durrant’s attorneys described the Appellate Court ruling as a powerful precedent, but Durrant stopped short of saying he will file a lawsuit against the village if his application for a special-use permit for the center is rejected.
