Gurnee Mayor Thomas Hood looked at another overflow crowd of residents at this week’s Village Board meeting and addressed the elephant in the room — The proposal for a homeless shelter on the town’s East Side opposed by a rising tide of potential neighbors.
“It’s real loud and clear,” he said, as resident after resident again let their feelings be known about the PADS Lake County project proposed for the two-story Fairbridge/Gurnee motel at 3740 Grand Ave., just east of Route 41. “(You’re) passionate about this.”
The mayor also outlined a possible timeline for public hearings on the homeless shelter, which would house 90 single residents or couples without children in the deteriorated motel at Grand and Waveland avenues along Gurnee’s East Grand Gateway. The village’s Planning and Zoning Board is expected to take up the request for a zoning amendment and special-use permit on July 24.
The Village Board may hear the recommendation for approval or rejection sometime in August. That sounds like an optimistic outlook considering the mounting opposition to the PADS acquisition and renovation of the 41-room motel, which is estimated at costing between $5.5 million and $7 million in taxpayer dollars.
Those holding the future hearings can expect to see increasing numbers of opponents turning out to express their opinions of siting a homeless shelter in the village, which currently hosts a number of low- and moderate-income housing options in addition to several thrift shops in the East Side neighborhood. They might also consider moving to a larger hearing site to accommodate the crowds.
Delving into the 195-page application for community development block grant funds finds the Gurnee project has been in the works for more than a year. A similar fixed-site “community shelter” is planned for the 79-room Travelodge Inn, at 3633 N. Lewis Ave. in Waukegan, which hosts the PADS headquarters building on Grand Avenue, east of Lewis Avenue.
The Waukegan motel is near Waukegan National Airport, two minutes to the Bonnie Brook Golf Course and just down the street from Oak Crest Grade School in Beach Park.
PADS officials completed a purchase agreement for the Gurnee motel in February, and then had expected building permits to be issued by Nov. 15. They had hoped to have the project shovel-ready by March 2025.
The proposal has received endorsements from U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Deerfield; various state senators and representatives; Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart, D-Lake Bluff, who represents a portion of Gurnee; supervisors from the townships of Libertyville, Moraine, West Deerfield, Zion, Benton and Waukegan townships; along with Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor.
Also backing the plans are social service agencies ranging from the United Way of Lake County to the Antioch Area Healthcare Accessibility Alliance.
PADS says it will provide staffing 24 hours a day, and the organization founded in 1972 says staffers, “are trained in effective service delivery, high-level supervision, and de-escalation techniques.” If up and running, grounds and facilities will be managed by Riverside Property Management based in Libertyville.
A “robust security system that will prevent general entry into the building” will be installed, according to the grant application. “The property will be continuously locked and audibly alarmed.”
Opponents see the need for alarms as caution enough the site is ill-suited for what PADS is planning, considering the location is across Grand Avenue from a senior citizens housing complex. It is about a mile south of Spaulding Grade School.
“Client belongings will also be heat treated on-site to control for pests like bed bugs,” the application spells out. “PADS will require individuals seeking shelter to wash themselves and their belongings before settling in.” Other on-site resources will include a food pantry, clothing room, housing case management, life-skills groups and employment services offered by The Job Center of Lake County Workforce Development.
While the site is geared toward single occupants, the largest unhoused population tallied in this year’s “point-in-time” homeless count in January was families, about 53%. In May, PADS officials documented a 310% surge in the number of homeless children sheltered within the past year.
If that’s the case, seems there’s a definite need for family-oriented housing solutions within Lake County, which has a federal poverty rate of 9%. Most at-risk of poverty are residents in Benton, Waukegan and Zion townships, according to officials.
Supporters of the project point to the Gurnee location being on a busy Pace bus route, which runs from downtown Waukegan to Gurnee Mills. To opponents, that’s a weak argument.
Hood is right about those who live in the area near the proposed homeless motel. They are passionate and they say they look forward to logically explaining why the facility should never have been planned for Gurnee.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
Twitter: @sellenews
Charles Selle , 2024-06-19 19:08:09
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