Boeger plan fails every standard for housing mentally ill

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March 17, 2010

Boeger plan fails every standard of recognized
expert for siting housing for severely mentally ill

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Since running yesterday's story about the plan by Thresholds, Daveri Development and their local partner to put up an apartment building for the severely mentally ill on property on Boeger Road in Arlington Heights that is not zoned for residential use, I have received a lot of criticism for supposedly engaging in discrimination against the mentally handicapped. The proposed site is across the street from Buffalo Grove High School and next door to a KinderCare Learning Center.

For numerous reasons outlined in yesterday's story, I thought that the Boeger Road site, which the Village of Arlington Heights must approve in order for the project to go forward, was precisely the wrong place for the proposed facility. However, as a longtime social activist who fights injustice, one victory at a time, discriminating against the downtrodden is the last thing that I would ever want to do, so I turned to the experts to determine what the right thing would be to do for the severely mentally ill.

To advise me, I found an organization that is the undisputed recognized expert in the field, since I really want the right thing to be done for the severely mentally ill, regardless of any inconvenience that the right solution may pose for the people of my neighborhood. The outstanding organization of leading experts that I found to advise me is the North/Northwest Suburban Task Force on Supportive Housing for Individuals with Mental Illness ("Housing Task Force").

The Housing Task Force has spent years studying the issues of how to best meet the housing needs of the severely mentally ill. I completely trust the judgment and leadership in the field of this fine organization.

The Housing Task Force has come up with a Vision Statement that contains a set of six critical standards for siting, that housing must meet in order to properly address the needs of the severely mentally ill. As it turns out, I strongly agree with each of those six standards, regardless, again, of what impact meeting those standards would have on my neighborhood. If my neighbors doesn't like it, too bad!

The first Housing Task Force standard is: The site will be in or near a downtown area. That makes sense. A downtown area has many services in close proximity to each other to serve a residential population, without the need for driving a car, taking a bus or walking a long distance to get what you need. That's particularly important for the severely mentally ill, since many or most of them don't drive, waiting around for a bus is time consuming and walking a long distance may be more strenuous than they can handle.

The Boeger Road site that is proposed by Thresholds, Daveri Development and their local partner, and which the Village of Arlington Heights must approve in order for the project to go forward, is miles from downtown Arlington Heights. It is also miles from the closest downtown area, which is located two towns away in Wheeling. As such, the Boeger Road site fails to meet this important standard of the recognized expert, the Housing Task Force. Siting their housing on Boeger Road, far from a downtown area, and forcing residents to walk to another town to find a downtown area would be, quite frankly, discrimination against the severely mentally ill, and I oppose discrimination against the severely mentally ill, even if Thresholds, Daveri and their local partner support this form of discrimination against the severely mentally ill.

The second Housing Task Force standard is: The site will be close to public transportation. That makes sense. Many, if not most, of the severely mentally ill population does not drive. They would be stranded at their apartment building if there was no nearby form of public transportation. They would be unable to get to work, or travel to see friends, family or doctors. In short, not being "close to public transportation" would be a disaster, a catastrophe, for the severely mentally ill.

The Boeger Road site that is proposed by Thresholds, Daveri Development and their local partner, and which the Village of Arlington Heights must approve in order for the project to go forward, is miles from the nearest bus and train lines in Arlington Heights. It is also miles from the closest bus line, which is in the next town over in Buffalo Grove. It is even farther from the closest commuter train line, which is located two towns away in Wheeling. As such, the Boeger Road site fails to meet this important standard of the recognized expert, the Housing Task Force. Siting their housing on Boeger Road, far from public transportation, and forcing residents to walk to another town to find public transportation would be, quite frankly, discrimination against the severely mentally ill, and I oppose discrimination against the severely mentally ill, even if Thresholds, Daveri and their local partner support this form of discrimination against the severely mentally ill.

My critics point out that Wheeling Township does offer a Dial-a-Ride service that they say would be free to the severely mentally ill living on Boeger Road. However, that service is cumbersome, inconvenient, very limited and extremely time consuming. The service only operates from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays, must be reserved two days in advance and is limited to one round trip per day. A simple, short trip could take all day to complete. In addition, this proposal by my critics is not fair me, or to the other taxpayers of Wheeling Township. The severely mentally ill living at Boeger Road would come from townships and counties from throughout the north and northwest suburbs, such as Palatine Township, New Trier Township, Lake County and McHenry County, but the taxpayers of Wheeling Township would be solely the ones stuck with paying the bill for providing transportation to the severely mentally ill residents of all these other townships and counties. The mentally ill residents of the other townships and counties would receive the expensive transportation services, and my neighbors from Wheeling Township and I would get stuck paying the bill for those transportation services. That's not fair, and I object to being dumped on to pay the cost of meeting the needs of people from other townships and counties, while the taxpayers of those other townships and counties don't pay a thing for it. My critics conveniently overlook that little matter.

The third Housing Task Force standard is: The site will be within walking distance of grocery stores. That makes sense. If you can't drive, as is the case with many severely mentally ill persons, you need a grocery store that is nearby and that you can walk to easily. This is particularly important in winter, when snow and ice cover many pathways that pedestrians would ordinarily use to travel between home and their grocery store, making it dangerous to walk a long distance.

The Boeger Road site that is proposed by Thresholds, Daveri Development and their local partner, and which the Village of Arlington Heights must approve in order for the project to go forward, is miles from the nearest grocery store in Arlington Heights. It is also nearly a half mile from the closest grocery store, which again is in the next town over, in Buffalo Grove. That means, if a severely mentally ill person just needs a bottle of milk or a roll of toilet paper, the person would have to walk nearly a mile, round trip, to fill that simple, minor need. As such, the Boeger Road site fails to meet this important standard of the recognized expert, the Housing Task Force. In addition, in order to walk to that far-away Buffalo Grove grocery store, a pedestrian would have to make the dangerous move of crossing a busy, four lane state highway (Illinois Route 68 - Dundee Road) and also a busy, four lane county highway (County Highway V6946 - Arlington Heights Road). Siting their housing on Boeger Road, far from a grocery store, and forcing residents to walk to another town to find the nearest grocery store would be, quite frankly, discrimination against the severely mentally ill, and I oppose discrimination against the severely mentally ill, even if Thresholds, Daveri and their local partner support this form of discrimination against the severely mentally ill.

The fourth Housing Task Force standard is: The site will be have easy access to governmental offices. That makes sense. If you can't drive, as is the case with many severely mentally ill persons, you need government offices to provide various support services that are nearby and that you can walk to easily.

The Boeger Road site that is proposed by Thresholds, Daveri Development and their local partner, and which the Village of Arlington Heights must approve in order for the project to go forward, is miles from the nearest government offices in Arlington Heights. It is also miles from the closest government offices, which are the ones for Wheeling Township. As such, the Boeger Road site fails to meet this important standard of the recognized expert, the Housing Task Force. In addition, I reiterate my point about how it is not fair to stick the taxpayers of Wheeling Township with the cost of meeting the needs of severely mentally ill people from other townships and counties, while the taxpayers of those other townships and counties don't pay a thing for it. Siting their housing on Boeger Road, far from any government offices, would be, quite frankly, discrimination against the severely mentally ill, and I oppose discrimination against the severely mentally ill, even if Thresholds, Daveri and their local partner support this form of discrimination against the severely mentally ill.

The fifth Housing Task Force standard is: The site will be have easy access to medical offices. That makes sense. If you are severely mentally ill, you are going to need various forms of medical care on a regular basis.

The sixth and final Housing Task Force standard is: The site will be have easy access to professional offices. That makes sense. If you are severely mentally ill, you are probably going to need other forms of professional services on a regular basis.

The Boeger Road site that is proposed by Thresholds, Daveri Development and their local partner, and which the Village of Arlington Heights must approve in order for the project to go forward, is actually across the street from a handful of professional offices in Arlington Heights, but I doubt that the array of professional services that severely mentally ill persons would need are located there. Those services would probably be located in a downtown area. Siting their housing on Boeger Road, far from the kinds of professional offices that provide the services they need, would be, quite frankly, discrimination against the severely mentally ill, and I oppose discrimination against the severely mentally ill, even if Thresholds, Daveri and their local partner support this form of discrimination against the severely mentally ill.

In addition, the Boeger Road property is located in a commercial district. The property is zoned commercial. It would be the only residential usage on the whole block, which actually covers two square blocks in area. We all want to live in a nice, residential setting. Nobody wants to live in the middle of a commercial district and, certainly, nobody wants to live in the only residential building in the middle of a commercial district. Sticking the severely mentally ill into a commercial district to live, when everybody else in the area is living in a nice, residential district, would be, quite frankly, discrimination against the severely mentally ill, and I oppose discrimination against the severely mentally ill, even if Thresholds, Daveri and their local partner support this form of discrimination against the severely mentally ill.

I have a new cause in life. I will be the champion of the severely mentally ill, to ensure that any housing built for them is sited in a location that meets the excellent, well-thought-out and reasonable standards of the North/Northwest Suburban Task Force on Supportive Housing for Individuals with Mental Illness, even if Thresholds, Daveri and their local partner support discrimination against the severely mentally ill by placing their housing in a commercial district and in a location that violates each and every one of the standards of the North/Northwest Suburban Task Force on Supportive Housing for Individuals with Mental Illness.

One final thing: Did I mention who is that "local partner" of Thresholds and Daveri Development, who is conspiring to discriminate against the severely mentally ill by violating each and every standard established by the Housing Task Force for proper siting of a residential facility for the severely mentally ill? That local partner is none other than the North/Northwest Suburban Task Force on Supportive Housing for Individuals with Mental Illness! That's right. The Housing Task Force, themselves, the organization that established the code of criteria for what the severely mentally ill need when it comes to siting their housing, is the very ones who propose violating each and every one of their own standards!

I'm not going to let them get away with it! Help me to advocate for the needs of the severely mentally ill by joining me in pressuring the Village of Arlington Heights to not approve the zoning change that would doom the severely mentally ill to being dumped by Thresholds, Daveri and the Housing Task Force into a site that the Housing Task Force, themselves, says is completely unsuitable for such use. Thanks, in advance, for your assistance.

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