Lawsuit
under way over Oak Brook's denial of assisted-living facility
Village
accused of discrimination
By Joseph Sjostrom | Chicago Tribune reporter
12:48 AM CDT
Did Oak
Brook discriminate against the elderly and the handicapped when the Village
Board voted six years ago to block a proposed assisted-living center? Or was
the board thinking of the public good in keeping the property vacant?
Those opposing versions of events were set before a federal court jury Monday
on the first day of a trial in a lawsuit seeking to force the village to
approve an assisted-living center in a former Franciscan friary at
The suit was filed in 2002 by the DuPage County Forest Preserve District,
owners of the property, and the DuPage Housing Authority, which wanted to buy
the property and convert the 110,000-square-foot former friars' residence into
a 93-unit assisted-living facility. The facility would serve elderly or
handicapped people who need some help with daily living activities such as
dressing and bathing but don't need the full-time care of a nursing home. The
plan called for 19 units to be set aside for low-income residents paying a
reduced rate.
The housing authority would acquire 6.2 acres along with the building for about
$300,000. The land is part of the 90-acre Mayslake property.
On
Attorney Robert Gauss, representing the housing authority, said in his opening
statement Monday that federal law prohibits discrimination against the
handicapped and the elderly. He said the Village Board has approved condominium
and townhouse developments elsewhere in the village, "but when it comes to
an assisted-living project, the village said no." Attorney James DeAno
countered that the forest preserve district bought the Mayslake property from
the proceeds of a $17.5 million bond issue for open-space purchases.
According to DeAno, Village Board member George Caleel said at the time that he
opposed the plan because the land should be "available to the people who
paid for it." John Craig, now village president,
stated that when he voted in favor of the bond issue as a taxpayer, he didn't
intend the type of use proposed by the housing authority, DeAno said.
The trial before Judge James Zagel in federal court in
jsjostrom@tribune.com