Palatine Considers Tighter Restrictions On Group Homes

The Palatine Village Council is considering lowering how many people can live in a group home from eight to four.

The proposed zoning changes are not related to any specific proposal, but the subtext of the discussion is a group home planned by NeuroRestorative, a residential rehabilitation provider based in Carbondale.

NeuroRestorative focuses on rehab for people with brain and spinal chord injuries and plans to open a home near Northwest Highway and Dundee Road. Among the populations it serves are veterans and military personnel.

"There are several factors that we really need to hone in on and discuss," District 1 Council Member Aaron Del Mar said during the Monday village council meeting. "First and foremost is the impact the group home would have on surrounding home owners and neighborhood."

NeuroRestorative's home would be in Del Mar's district.

"I just have a few concerns with the group homes ... specifically the number of residents and staff, the amount of parking that will be taking place, the amount of transient visitors and amount of traffic," Del Mar said, adding that he thought that eight residents for such a home was excessive.

The potential change would not impact the 12 group homes that already have been approved to operate in Palatine.

Group homes are protected by the Federal Fair Housing Act. The homes can serve a variety of populations, including people with disabilities, individuals recovering from substance abuse or people who have suffered abuse.

The groups homes in Palatine already include WINGS, which serves homeless and abused women and children, and the Little City Foundation, which serves autistic children and those with developmental disabilities.

"We're not against group homes that's not the intention of this," Palatine resident Frank Annerino said. "The whole idea of this is to better regulate them to make them safer for the residents of the group homes, the worker of the group homes and the surrounding community."

Annerino and lives near the planned location of NeuroRestorative's planned group home.

A NeuroRestorative official said at a prior meeting the Palatine home would serve up to five residents.

The village council is expected to vote on the zoning change at is March 12 meeting. If the change is approved, a group home wanting more than four residents would have to come before the village council for approval.

Other changes to the zoning code would require that group homes have parking for each staff member per shift and each resident who has a car.

Although criminal background checks occur for staff members as part of state licensing requirements, Annerino also wanted criminal background checks for residents.

Village Attorney Bob Kenny said the Fair Housing Act treats group homes as a single family home with a family. "They come from the perspective that a group home is a family and they're trying to make available the residents of a group home to live in a residential neighborhood and be part of a community instead of being in an instituion."

"In terms of doing background checks of the residents I would recommend that the village not entertain that," Kenny said. "I think a court would look at that and say, 'Do you require backgrond checks of people who buy single-family homes?'"