Elmhurst Struggled To Get Sober Home Inspection: Memo

Elmhurst IL

14 May, 2021

8:05 AM

Description

ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst struggled to get an inspection of a sober living home at 348 N. Larch Ave. last year, prompting a key city committee to recommend against giving it a permit, according to a city memo released Thursday. But then the property owner allowed an inspection and the city found problems. With the city saying those issues have been corrected, the committee now supports the permit. On Monday, the City Council is expected to decide. If the home gets the permit, it would be allowed to have up to seven unrelated people in the house. The group leasing the property, Carpenter's Tools Ministries, which already operates a sober home there, said it is serving men with addictions. The current zoning lets up to four unrelated people live in the home, but neighbors oppose making an exception. Late last month, the city's Development, Planning and Zoning approved a request for up to seven unrelated people in the house. Going back years, the city has responded to problems on the property, long before the sober home started in 2018. In 2006, a city alderwoman said police were constantly being called to the house. Two years ago, a heroin overdose death occurred on the property, according to city records. In March 2020, the committee directed city staff to conduct an inspection, but the owner refused to allow one, according to a city memo. Because of this, the committee recommended against approval of a permit, saying it did not have enough information to make a decision. Soon after that, the owner agreed to allow an inspection, the memo said. The city found violations on the property, but they were corrected within a month, according to the memo. At its April 26 meeting, the Development, Planning Committee recommended a permit with a few conditions. They included requiring all occupants to abide by house rules and limiting occupancy to seven people. Also, the permit would no longer be in effect if Carpenter's Tool Ministries lost to the right to occupancy. A new operator would have to get a permit. At the meeting, the committee delayed public comment on the sober home proposal until after members voted on the issue. That move drew criticism from then-Alderman Scott Levin, who became mayor a few days later, and prompted a complaint to the attorney general. In an email to city officials Thursday, Justin Ruehs, one of the sober home's neighbors, asked the council to pull the issue from its meeting agenda for Monday, noting the committee's public input issue. "The neighborhood comments were not taken into consideration at the last zoning meeting, and quite frankly facts and logic are being dismissed by the city council," Ruehs said.