Kane County Board Votes Again to Deny Maxxam Special Use
For the second time in 14 months, the Kane County Board denied a special-use request for a 120-bed substance-abuse-treatment facility on the former Glenwood Academy property in unincorporated Campton Hills.
At its Tuesday (May 9, 2017) meeting, the County Board voted 14-9 to deny the petition. It had voted 15-6 against the petition in March 2016.
Maxxam Partners LLC had sought the special use designation for the 120-acre property at 41W400 Silver Glen Road to use the existing buildings and infrastructure on the property for an exclusively private-pay alcoholism and substance abuse treatment facility. The drug- and alcohol-treatment center also would serve people with eating disorders and other addictions, with the exceptions of methamphetamine or sexual addictions.
The petition came back to the board after Maxxam had agreed to 18 of 20 recommendations made by the Kane County Zoning Board of Appeals and Kane County Development Department.
Voting in favor of the special use were Theresa Barreiro, Brian Dahl, Rebecca Gillam, Don Ishmael, Bill Lenert, John Martin, Myrna Molina, Doug Scheflow and Monica Silva.
County Board members based their decision on six requirements for granting a special use:
- That the establishment, maintenance or operation of the special use will not be unreasonably detrimental to or endanger the public health, safety, morals, comfort or general welfare;
- That the special use will not be injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property in the immediate vicinity for the purposes already permitted, nor substantially diminish and impair property values within the neighborhood;
- That the establishment of the special use will not impede the normal and orderly development and improvement of surrounding property for uses permitted in the district;
- That adequate utility, access roads, drainage and/or other necessary facilities have been or are being provided;
- That adequate measures have been or will be taken to provide ingress and egress so designated as to minimize traffic congestion in the public streets and roads; and
- That the special use shall, in all other respects, conform to the applicable regulations of the district in which it is located, except as such regulations may be in each instance be modified by the County Board pursuant to the recommendations of the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Objectors included area property owners, the village of Campton Hills, Campton Township, Campton Township Plan Commission, Plato Township, Fox River and Countryside Fire Rescue District. The special use had been denied by the Zoning Board of Appeals but approved by the Kane County Development Committee.
SUMMARY OF THE TYPES OF CONDITIONS
There are a total of 20 conditions that have been recommended by the ZBA and the Development Committee.
- 18/20 have been agreed to by the petitioner
- 2 conditions are not agreed to by the petitioner
- #23 – limiting the number of patients to 75
- #28 – wetlands delineation, quality assessment and management plan
- 13 conditions are required to be met prior to occupancy, which Kane County controls administratively through the permit and inspection process in partnership with the fire protection district and other state and local agencies
- 7 conditions will be confirmed prior to occupancy, but are not tied directly to the permit process for occupancy
- 1 condition (#17) requires annual staff review of water test results from monitoring wells and spray irrigation discharges, both to be tested for pharmaceuticals on an annual basis. (annual testing could be modified by the County Board to be more or less frequently)
- 19 conditions would be enforced after occupancy following the county’s procedures for investigating potential violations.
STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING CONDITIONS #23 AND #28
The two conditions not agreed to by the petitioner is for the following reason as stated by the petitioner; “We will not agree to those two conditions because they are inherently discriminatory.”
#23 – the condition limiting the number of patients to 75
This number recommended by the ZBA. The recommendation to limit the number of patients was based on a condition recommended by the Village of Campton Hills, although their recommended number was 96. Staff and the SA assigned to the County Board for this petition recommend that this condition not be adopted by the County Board. As extensive as the record is, there is not much evidence to support reducing the number of patients requested by the petitioner. The actual number of patients may be limited by the actual occupancy limitations of the existing patient lodges under building and life safety codes and the requirements and limitations of the State license. The actual number of patients will be based on the combined maximum occupancy of the existing resident lodges not to exceed 120.
#28 – the condition requiring a wetlands delineation, quality assessment and management plan
The condition related to the wetlands was recommended by the Village of Campton Hills, although it was softened by the ZBA and limited to completing a wetlands delineation, quality assessment and preparing management plan. Staff recommends that this condition not be adopted by the County Board. The petitioner is required to comply with the Kane County Stormwater Ordinance and Army Corp of Engineers regulations. Kane County did not require an easement when the original special use was approved and staff does not recommend doing so at this time.
SUMMARY FOR THE PROCESSES FOR INVESTIGATING AND COMPLAINTS AND/OR MONITORING
Kane County primarily handles enforcement of its adopted codes and ordinances based on complaints received from the public or from units of government. Kane County has a process and system for following up on complaints:
- Complaints about potential violations are received by staff via phone, email, letter or walk- ins from residents, units of government or other County departments
- Staff does an initial inspection of the premises and/or contacts the owner
- Staff mails a notice of violation if one is confirmed or suspected to exist. The owner is givena reasonable amount of time to respond to the violation notice and/or bring the violationinto compliance.
- If the violation is not corrected, staff may schedule the case for an Administrative/Adjudication Hearing or file a complaint in the Circuit Court with the assistance of the SA Office.
Periodic monitoring for compliance is usually associated with a license renewal or as a special condition such as the water testing condition (#17) for this petition. Other than condition #17, there are no conditions requiring periodic monitoring.
REVOCATION
In any case where a special use has not been established (substantially under way) within one year from the date of granting thereof, then, without further action by the county board, the special use or authorization thereof shall be null and void, unless in the opinion of the zoning enforcing officer, circumstances beyond the control of the permittee indicate that establishment of the use has been impossible.
If the special use has been established and subsequently discontinued, the zoning board of appeals shall have the power to institute proceedings on its own motion to consider revocation of said special use.
Revocation could also be initiated by the County Board if the petitioner does not meet the conditions and guarantees.
SOURCE: Kane County Board Agenda Packet, report by Kane County Development Department
