A plan to open a group home for young refugees, mainly from China and India, in an upscale equestrian community in unincorporated Naperville drew parochial and global responses from neighbors at a DuPage County hearing.
Some of the 100 people who packed a Zoning Board hearing Thursday night complained Heartland Human Care Services of Chicago’s plan would hurt property values, while others lauded the idea.
Heartland is requesting a conditional-use permit for a 7,000-square-foot home at 23W735 Hobson Rd. on 2.5 acres. It wants to house up to 30 boys and girls, from infants to age 17, and 15 employees.
The service is part of a federally funded program created about three years ago to help the refugees assimilate in a homelike environment instead of holding unaccompanied children at detention sites.
Many residents living near the proposed site object to a multifamily use in their single-family home neighborhood. Other opponents complained that proper notification was not given to neighbors for an initial public hearing on Nov. 30.
As a result, the board accepted public comments Thursday and is expected to make a recommendation to the county Development Committee on Feb. 1. That panel will consider the case before it is forwarded to the full County Board, likely by mid-February, for final review.
Paul Lombardo purchased three lots adjacent to the site and is seeking to have plans approved by the county to build a home on one of them.
“This house sits 10 feet from our property. We bought this property to live in a single-family home environment,” Lombardo said.
Eric Cerevic lives about a mile from the site and sympathizes with those who live closer.
“They have achieved the American dream. You ask to change the nature of these people’s lives. It will change the character of the community,” he said.
Heartland and federal government officials say the children would not be a disruption to the community. In fact, Maureen Dunn, director of Unaccompanied Children Services, a federal department under Homeland Security, said a similar program in an upscale area of Houston is well-regarded.
“In the three years I have been running this program I have never had any complaints from neighbors,” Dunn said.
Other residents supported the project.
“This is something we can do here to help the world good,” resident Mary Miller said.
Heartland plans to purchase the home for $1.87 million and use it as a temporary shelter for children who would live there for up to 90 days and then be reunited with their families or relocated.
