Rob Sherman News
The hot social and political issues of the day

Serious Journalism, Professionally Written

         
Click on either picture for larger image

         May 17, 2010        

New scandal should block vote on
Boeger Drive Apartments tonight

A new scandal involving Daveri Development should block the Arlington Heights Village Board from voting, tonight, as planned, on whether or not to approve the Boeger Drive Apartments for the severely mentally ill.  The scandal involves whether Daveri notified all of the neighboring property owners that they were required to notify of the Public Hearing on their proposal to change the zoning for the land from Business B-1 and B-2 to Institutional Use.

Chapter 28 of the Arlington Heights Municipal Code is their Zoning Regulations.  Section 28-18 (see Page 175 of the 177-page zoning ordinance) provides a procedure on what you must do to get the zoning changed on a piece of property.  Section 28-18.1 provides, in pertinent part, that "no such amendments [to zoning districts] shall be made until a public hearing has been held, and a report and recommendation has been made thereon by the Village of Arlington Heights."

Section 28-18.2-2 (Page 175 of the ordinance) specifies who must be notified, in writing, of such public hearing.  That ordinance states, in pertinent part, that "if any part of a condominium property is located within 250 feet of the property which is the subject of a hearing, written notification shall be sent to each taxpayer of record of the condominium as well as to the condominium association.  A copy of the notice with a copy of the list of addresses shall be mailed to the Planning Department at the time notice is given to the owners or taxpayers."

According to official records, the Timber Court condominium property is within 250 feet of the proposed Boeger Drive Apartments.  Tandem Realty has built the east and north buildings of Timber Court.  The west building has not yet been built.  Each building at Timber Court has 60 condominiums.  Seven units in each building are reserved for low-income owners.

The Arlington Heights Housing Commission stated, at their meeting earlier this month, that 11 of the 14 condominiums reserved for low-income residents have been sold, and that they don't know how many of the full-price units have been sold.  That means that there are at least eleven property owners, other than Tandem Realty, in the two constructed buildings, and surely at least some of the full price units have also been sold.  Tandem now advertises the project on their web site as condominiums for rent.

Craig Horwitz tells Rob Sherman News that, on Friday, he inspected the official list of property owners who were notified by Daveri of the Public Hearing before the Arlington Heights Plan Commission.  According to Horwitz, the official list reveals that only four property owners of the east building and three property owners of the north building were notified by Daveri, and that Tandem Realty was also notified, since they own unsold units.  Horwitz also says that he personally knows of two property owners in the north building who did not receive notice of the public hearing.

If Daveri did not properly notify all of the property owners whom they were required to notify, which would include all Timber Court condominium owners, then the Public Hearing by the Plan Commission was invalid.  If the Public Hearing was invalid, then the 4-3 vote in favor of the Boeger Drive Apartments project by the Plan Commission is void.  If the Plan Commission vote is void because the Public Hearing was invalid, then the Arlington Heights Village Board will not be able to vote on the project at tonight's Village Board Meeting (see pages 10-13), because a valid, legally required Public Hearing has not yet been held.

Daveri wants to get $1.4 million for the project from the Illinois Housing Development Authority ("IHDA").  Daveri says that, without the money, the project won't be built.

In order to get that money, IHDA requires Daveri to get preliminary approval by the Village of Arlington Heights by May 17, 2010, which is today.  A positive recommendation by the Arlington Heights Plan Commission would constitute sufficient preliminary approval.  Since the approval from the Plan Commission is likely void, because Daveri didn't notify all of the neighboring property owners whom Daveri is legally required to notify, then Daveri will not have the necessary preliminary approval that they need from the Village of Arlington Heights by IHDA's deadline date of today.

Daveri will not get the IHDA money, so the project, apparently, is dead.

I'll know much more, tonight, after the Arlington Heights Village Board meeting.  The meeting starts at 8 p.m.  Boeger is the last item on the agenda.  Hope to see you there.  However, it's possible that Boeger will be taken off of tonight's agenda.  I will check with village officials during the day, today, and have an update, for you, either way, no later than 4 p.m.  Check back, then.

Previous Rob Sherman News stories in the series:

Tuesday, March 16:  Arlington Heights intends to put apartments for severely mentally ill across from Buffalo Grove High School

Wednesday, March 17:  Boeger plan fails every standard of recognized expert for siting housing for severely mentally ill

Thursday, March 18:  Developers refuse to respond to inquiries about choice of location for apartments for mentally ill

Friday, March 19:  Numerous appropriate sites exist for housing suburban mentally ill

Saturday, March 20:  Pictures of Boeger Road neighborhood surrounding proposed apartments for severely mentally ill

Friday, April 2:  Sherman meets with State Rep and Arlington Heights Mayor regarding apartments for severely mentally ill

Monday, April 5:  Could psycho-arsonist be first resident at apartments for mentally ill in Arlington Heights?

Wednesday, April 21:  Major scandal rocks Housing Task Force regarding plan for siting apartments for severely

Friday, April 23:  Plan Commission votes 4-3 in favor of sub-standard, overcrowded ghetto of undersized apartments for mentally ill

Sunday, April 25:  Sherman finds way to successfully block Boeger Road apartments for severely mentally ill

Tuesday, April 27:  Illinois Housing Development Authority says Boeger project must meet ADA guidelines

Wed., April 28:  Federal law backs opponents of segregated, discriminatory housing on Boeger for mentally ill

Sunday, May 9:  Arlington Heights declares war on Boeger Ghetto property maintenance

Monday, May 10:  Buffalo Grove Mayor blasts Boeger project for excessive variations to zoning standards

Sunday, May 16:  Craig Horwitz issues community bulletin regarding Boeger proposal for mentally ill

Your voluntary subscription to Rob Sherman News is appreciated to help offset the substantial cost of my work.  Thanks, in advance, for your participation in this manner.

Help support my work by purchasing a Rob Sherman News Mini-Crank Flashlight for $20.  It never needs batteries.  You just wind it up a few times and it works.  Remember, you're not paying twenty bucks just for a flashlight.  You are helping me to shine a light on and stop unconstitutional government policies and other catastrophically bad ideas by government and the private sector.

That's the value of what you are purchasing, and that's the difference between Rob Sherman Advocacy and most of the other groups.  They talk about the problems of state/church separation.  I do something about it and get the violations of your constitutional rights stopped.  Besides, there aren't that many of the Rob Sherman News Mini-Crank Flashlights, so you might be able to make a lot of money selling this rare collector's item in a few years.

Please tell your friends about this through your social media networks and word of mouth.

E-mail comments about my stories to me at rob@robsherman.com to let me know what you think.  Send personal comments, comments unrelated to this story or notification of typos that you see in any of my posts to the same e-mail address.

Thanks for visiting Rob Sherman News.