Mary Hansen
The State Journal-Register
Most weeks William McCombs visits his son Jonathan in a small, ranch-style house on Noble Avenue in Springfield. His dad likes to take Jonathan, who has Down syndrome, to visit his grandmother or to get movies at the video store. It’s a great arrangement for them both, his dad says. Jonathan, 34, lives with two other men in a house they rent, run by a nonprofit where he can get the regular care he needs. But it’s unclear if his son will get to live in the Noble Avenue house much longer.
Last month, city officials ruled the house is too close to another group home for people with disabilities. They denied a request for an exception by the homeowners and the Romeoville-based nonprofit Individual Advocacy Group.
The city has a zoning requirement that group homes must be at least 600 feet from each other.
“They failed to follow our code,” said Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin, whose ward includes the house. He said the rule exists to avoid a density of group homes in one area. “If they’d placed the home 600 feet beyond the Sparc home, there would have been no problem.”
Now, the issue is in court. Individual Advocacy Group has filed a federal housing discrimination lawsuit last month against the city.
The lawsuit accuses the city of discriminating against another resident of the home on the basis of his disability by enforcing the spacing requirement and denying the request for a reasonable exception. The lawsuit goes on to say the city’s action violates the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act because it applies the spacing rule to people with disabilities and not families or residents who are not disabled.
The house, the lawsuit contends, should be considered a family residence and not a family-care residence under zoning laws because five or fewer people live there, which is the city’s definition of a family.
“The next step and the way to combat that discriminatory behavior is by filing the complaint that we did,” said Sarah Jane Hunt, an attorney for the nonprofit. The city plans to try to have the case dismissed, said Corporation Counsel Jim Zerkle.
Meanwhile, Individual Advocacy Group asked the court last week to prevent any efforts to evict the residents while the case is pending.
Already have one
The city’s planning and zoning commission took up the issue in November, ultimately recommending denying Individual Advocacy Group’s request. A few neighbors told commissioners they opposed the exception, submitting a petition signed by 30 residents.
“Our objection is that we already have a group home,” said Rosalie Lowery, who has lived on Noble for more than 20 years. She signed the petition and spoke at the meeting. “The city has an ordinance that says only one group home in 600 feet,” she said.
The city council followed the recommendation at a meeting a few weeks later.
Precedent?
Aldermen referenced a similar zoning case that the council voted on in August. The council denied a request from Individual Advocacy Group for a house on Pinehurst Drive, which was close to a another group home. More than 100 residents signed petitions opposing the exception.
A federal case dealing with similar zoning practices was resolved last May. The U.S. Department of Justice reached a settlement with the city of Beaumont, Texas, which was sued over its imposing a half-mile spacing rule for small group homes serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Beaumont agreed to change its zoning and land-use practices, allowing the homes to operate in any residential neighborhood, and pay $475,000 in fines and damages.
William McCombs spoke at the council meeting where the nonprofit’s request for his son’s home was voted down. He says he’s disappointed by the decision. The variance, in his opinion, was reasonable.
Still, Mayor Jim Langfelder says zoning rules should be applied evenly. “When you start making exceptions, you have to make them for everyone,” he said. “That’s why you have to apply it across the board. Otherwise, you will be picking and choosing.”
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 