Planning and Development Commission Consideration |
The Planning and Development Commission of the Village of Oak Lawn held a public hearing on Monday, May 16, 2016 to evaluate the merits of the petitions submitted by Anthem Memory Care.
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Meeting Recorded
Click below to view the video recording of the Planning and Development Commission public hearing held Monday, May 16, 2016.
Municipal Code Specified
As the meeting got underway municipal code section 2-1-8-3-D was announced to those in attendance as being the source of guidance for the Planning and Development Commission while considering the petitions filed by Anthem Memory Care...
What Was Presented?
Anthem Memory Care made their brief presentation, displaying a few poster boards in the process. Those displays included a revised site plan on a double-sided poster board as well as the same undersized drawing lacking measurements that was used at the April 19, 2016 meeting.
These are some of the updates that were presented by Anthem Memory Care or otherwise clarified further at some point during the evening... (DISCLAIMER - this is not an all-inclusive list of everything discussed)
These are some of the updates that were presented by Anthem Memory Care or otherwise clarified further at some point during the evening... (DISCLAIMER - this is not an all-inclusive list of everything discussed)
- Traffic will be forced to make right turns when exiting the proposed facility.
- The proposed facility will now be eleven feet further east or closer to the school.
- The width of the green space landscaped buffer on the west side of the building between the lot line and the drive/parking lot has been increased to somewhere between seventeen to twenty feet.
- A decorative wrought iron fence will be installed along the entire length of the western property lot line.
- The garbage dumpster has been relocated to the southeast corner of the property.
- The backup generator will be placed wherever the village specifies.
- A muffling wall will be installed to reduce mechanical noise generated by the facility.
- There will be two balconies on the second floor on the west side of the building that will face the residential homes.
- A cyclone fence will be used to enclose the retention pond.
Questions/Comments from the Commissioners and General Public
Once Anthem Memory Care finished their presentation, the commissioners took the opportunity to ask questions and comment on the proposal. After the commissioners finished, the public comments section of the meeting was opened up. With the exception of a few participants, the general public voiced their opinions and concerns in a respectful and orderly fashion. While there were a handful individuals that expressed support for the proposed facility, the overwhelming majority of those that spoke during the public comment section asked the commissioners to vote to deny the petitions. However, it is also important to note that no one spoke out against the idea of the memory care facility altogether. The opposition was against the proposed location, a residential neighborhood.
One of the more humorous discussions involved the fact that no one in attendance knew what day garbage pick-up would occur for the proposed facility. Why is that? Residential pick-up for the area is on Wednesday, so the rest of the neighborhood clearly knows when they need to put their garbage cans out. However, this commercial facility will be served by a commercial pick-up and the school administrator was unaware of the school's garbage pick-up schedule because he is not from this area either.
One of the more humorous discussions involved the fact that no one in attendance knew what day garbage pick-up would occur for the proposed facility. Why is that? Residential pick-up for the area is on Wednesday, so the rest of the neighborhood clearly knows when they need to put their garbage cans out. However, this commercial facility will be served by a commercial pick-up and the school administrator was unaware of the school's garbage pick-up schedule because he is not from this area either.
The Vote
Immediately after closing the public comment section of the hearing the Planning and Development Commission held their votes on the three petitions filed by Anthem Memory Care. One amendment was added (more on that later) and all three petitions were eventually approved by a 7-1 margin despite the overwhelming turnout by the general public in opposition of the proposal at every public meeting held to date. Commissioner Matt Egan was the only commissioner to vote in opposition of each of the petitions.
Recap
Anthem Memory Care petitioned to build their proposed commercial facility in a single-family residential neighborhood.
Anthem Memory Care made no guarantees that their facility will serve the residents of the Village of Oak Lawn on a priority basis. Who knows, such priority admission may not even be legal or considered discriminatory. Regardless, the fact remains that the public interest that this proposed facility is supposed to serve, those suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia very well might not even be residents of the Village of Oak Lawn.
Furthermore, residents of the Village of Oak Lawn could be turned away if they fail to meet and maintain the admission criteria set by Anthem Memory Care.
However, rather than listen to the opinions and concerns of tax-paying residents of the Village of Oak Lawn, especially those living within the immediate vicinity of the proposed development trying to maintain the integrity of their single-family neighborhood, the Planning and Development Commission voted in favor of the petitioner, Anthem Memory Care.
In doing so, it also appears that the "does it fit with the neighborhood" mantra expressed at the March 7, 2016 Planning and Development Commission meeting went by the wayside.
Anthem Memory Care made no guarantees that their facility will serve the residents of the Village of Oak Lawn on a priority basis. Who knows, such priority admission may not even be legal or considered discriminatory. Regardless, the fact remains that the public interest that this proposed facility is supposed to serve, those suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia very well might not even be residents of the Village of Oak Lawn.
Furthermore, residents of the Village of Oak Lawn could be turned away if they fail to meet and maintain the admission criteria set by Anthem Memory Care.
However, rather than listen to the opinions and concerns of tax-paying residents of the Village of Oak Lawn, especially those living within the immediate vicinity of the proposed development trying to maintain the integrity of their single-family neighborhood, the Planning and Development Commission voted in favor of the petitioner, Anthem Memory Care.
In doing so, it also appears that the "does it fit with the neighborhood" mantra expressed at the March 7, 2016 Planning and Development Commission meeting went by the wayside.
The Lone Amendment
Six months after their occupancy permit is granted, Anthem Memory Care and officials from the Village of Oak Lawn will evaluate any traffic issues that might arise once this facility is operational. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
For starters, the proposed facility will no longer be just a proposal at that point but rather an actuality/reality. Any traffic issues that might arise to be addressed should not even be there in the first place.
Secondly, Anthem Memory Care has already stated that full occupancy will take some time to achieve, maybe a year to eighteen months once the doors open. It is doubtful that Anthem Memory Care will have the facility at 100% staffing levels to handle any residency level that is less than 100%. That would be the whole patient-to-caregiver ratio question that never truly got answered to any degree of certainty during any of the presentations. The number of residents will determine the number of staff required for any given shift. Furthermore, ten, twenty or even thirty residents will likely generate less visitor traffic than a facility operating at a full capacity of eighty-two residents. The same goes for food, laundry, garbage, medical trips or all of the other activities normally associated with operating a commercial facility of this nature.
That amendment is an outright insult to the intelligence of every resident of the Village of Oak Lawn.
For starters, the proposed facility will no longer be just a proposal at that point but rather an actuality/reality. Any traffic issues that might arise to be addressed should not even be there in the first place.
Secondly, Anthem Memory Care has already stated that full occupancy will take some time to achieve, maybe a year to eighteen months once the doors open. It is doubtful that Anthem Memory Care will have the facility at 100% staffing levels to handle any residency level that is less than 100%. That would be the whole patient-to-caregiver ratio question that never truly got answered to any degree of certainty during any of the presentations. The number of residents will determine the number of staff required for any given shift. Furthermore, ten, twenty or even thirty residents will likely generate less visitor traffic than a facility operating at a full capacity of eighty-two residents. The same goes for food, laundry, garbage, medical trips or all of the other activities normally associated with operating a commercial facility of this nature.
That amendment is an outright insult to the intelligence of every resident of the Village of Oak Lawn.