A proposal to build affordable housing for people with physical disabilities in Des Plaines has cleared the first hurdle in its bid for approval from city officials.
The Des Plaines city council voted 5-2 Monday night to change the zoning of the proposed site of the development from commercial to residential, allowing for the construction of a multi-family residential building at 751 Graceland Ave.
The proposed development, which would be owned and managed by Evanston-based nonprofit Over the Rainbow Association, will also require approval of three major variances, which will be considered by the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals and then either approved or rejected by the council. The variances include reducing a required setback by two feet, reducing the number of parking spaces required from 80 to 36 and allowing for the construction of 40 units instead of a limit of 31.
Ald. Mark Walsten, 6th, who with Ald. James Brookman, 5th, voted against the zoning change, said the development could be “a disaster waiting to happen.”
Addressing concerns from both Walsten and Brookman that the building could potentially change hands somewhere down the line, Eric Huffman, executive director of Over the Rainbow Association, said his organization has never sold any of its eight apartment communities in the Chicagoland area.
Further, he said, the project would be paid for by low-income housing tax credits and to bail out at any point “we’d do significant damage to our organization,” Huffman said.
Huffman also informed the council that though the organization holds tax abatements on many of its properties, “we don’t necessarily have to have that” in Des Plaines.
But if a tax abatement were granted, the nonprofit would save roughly $50,000 per year, money that could then be used to pay for services for the residents of the proposed apartment building.
Courtney Stocking, an advocate for the organization and a resident of an accessible apartment in Arlington Heights, broke down in tears as she implored council members to look beyond financial matters.
“I think hearing people say ‘there (are) the taxes’ and other things, that’s like a little thing compared to the independence of living somewhere where you can make an impact on society,” she said.
Leo Kirwan, a resident of Over the Rainbow’s apartment community in Evanston, also emphasized the need for buildings that provide affordable housing to people with physical disabilities. He also detailed the benefit residents would provide to the community as consumers of local goods and services.
Kirwan, who was left paralyzed following a car accident, said the cost savings to the taxpayer with buildings like the one proposed for Des Plaines are “tremendous.”
Institutionalizing a person with severe physical disabilities can cost anywhere from $120,000 to $150,000 per year, whereas his housing costs at Over the Rainbow amount to only about $30,000 annually, he said.
But Graham Hills, owner of G.L. Hills Funeral Home, located next to the proposed apartment building, said he has concerns about the zoning changes necessary to create this development.
“It’s not the people … or the organization, it’s the building and the variances,” he said.
Huffman said he is confident his organization will be able to get funding for the proposed project. The bigger challenge, he said in an interview after the meeting, will be winning support from city officials.
If the planned development is ultimately approved, construction would likely begin sometime early next year, he said.
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