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  • Home
  • Safety Concern
  • Grand Opening
  • Signs of Trouble
    • Who is LTC
  • About Anthem
    • Anthem Facility Locations
  • Background Info Archive
    • The Village of Oak Lawn Plan >
      • Project Relocation Request Response
    • Flooding Concerns
    • Input from Village Officials
    • Outcome of the P&DC Public Hearing >
      • Does It Fit With The Neighborhood
      • Trying To Make It Fit
      • Anthem's Two-Story Facilities
    • "Fact-based" Presentation >
      • Which is Being Proposed
      • Similar Locations
      • Property Tax Revenue
      • Residential or Commercial
    • Confused Residents >
      • Mayor Bury's Comments
      • Clearing Up The Confusion
    • Preservation of Single Family Neighborhoods >
      • 92nd St - Cicero Ave
      • 97th St - Melvina Ave
    • Outcome of the Board of Trustees Meeting >
      • Anthem's First Property Tax Hike
      • Comparison to Mercy Circle
    • Sign of the Times
    • Municipal Code >
      • Code Disclaimer Info
      • Planning and Development Commission >
        • Recommendations of the Commission
      • Planned Residential Developments >
        • Parking Requirements
      • Off-Street Parking and Loading >
        • Off-Street Parking
        • Off-Street Loading Berths
      • Special Uses >
        • Purpose
        • Procedure for Application for Special Use
        • Authorization
        • Approval of Special Use
        • Standards
        • Types of Special Uses

Anthem Memory Care
Grace Point Place -  Grand Opening

The Oak Lawn Chamber of Commerce, a 350 member non-profit business and community-orientated organization, hosted the grand opening celebration for Grace Point Place on Thursday, May 3rd.

Village officials and representatives from Anthem Memory Care cut the ribbon to open the FOR-PROFIT COMMERCIAL facility that was granted a special use permit to operate in an otherwise single-family residential neighborhood.

The timing of this "celebration" was somewhat interesting, given how most of the local neighborhood residents were still at work at that time. These taxpaying residents returned to their homes that evening to find their new "residential" neighbor in operation, having opened their doors to welcome those suffering from dementia - at least those that can afford private pay (or have long term care insurance) to call Grace Point Place "home", can meet whatever admission screening criteria Anthem Memory Care uses and can pass annual patient evaluation assessments.

This new facility reportedly does not alter the essential character of the neighborhood. It blends in so well this 43,000 square foot two-story facility "needed" a six foot by ten foot monument sign constructed on the residential side street to help visitors find it.

Shortage of Off-Street Visitor Parking

Unfortunately, those that did decide to attend the grand opening ceremony discovered that the facility lacks sufficient off-street visitor parking. There are less than forty spaces in the facility's parking lot and this shortage is intentional. The plan submitted by Anthem Memory Care and eventually approved by the Village of Oak Lawn officials showed the property being purchased was not large enough to accommodate the number of parking spaces required by the municipal code therefore this facility was granted a parking variation.

Overflow parking concerns were repeatedly raised by area residents during the various public hearings held as part of the process of granting the special use permit. These residents were told that the parking lots at the Southwest Chicago Christian School would be utilized to handle any overflow parking and that on-street visitor parking would not take place.

Below are a few pictures of the parking situation during the grand opening ceremony. These residential side streets have historically been car-free for the most part, meaning on-street parking is not the norm for the area. This is the impact of placing a COMMERCIAL facility with inadequate visitor parking in what was otherwise a single-family residential neighborhood.

Please also note the school buses being parked on the school grounds overnight rather than elsewhere offsite as stated during the public hearings.

People visiting Grace Point Place simply chose to park on-street close to the facility rather than hike a block from the school parking lot already occupied by the school buses that were allegedly going to be parked elsewhere.

This act is simple human nature, a concept ignored by our elected village officials who instead told area residents to have faith in the overflow parking plan offered by Anthem Memory Care representatives. 

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