A Bias Against Renters In Darien?

DARIEN, IL — Darien officials expressed concern about an apparent bias among residents against renters during a meeting Monday.

At the meeting, the City Council approved a controversial apartment complex, which the developer described as upscale. It is planned for the southeast corner of South Frontage Road and Sokol Court, east of the Extended Stay America hotel.

Some opponents of the complex denied the allegation of bias against renters during the meeting.

But written comments against the development indicated opposition to renters living nearby. Some brought up the possibility of the proposed apartments turning into federally subsidized housing commonly known as Section 8.

Alderman Joe Kenny said the building in question would not be an issue if the developer planned condos instead of apartments.

"You're 100 percent right," a man from the audience yelled out.

Kenny suggested such a position was discrimination between renters and owners.

Alderman Lester Vaughan said he was embarrassed and disappointed by the written comments against the project.

"I felt some of the comments in the emails came off as really derogatory. The tone in those statements, they came off to be kind of racist, and it promoted a level of classism that Darien is not proud of," said Vaughan, the council's only African American.

In response, a man stormed out of the room. Others denied race was a factor.

But race was explicitly mentioned in one of the dozens of comments that the city posted to its website. It was in an email by neighbor Don Letrich Sr. to Alderwoman Mary Sullivan, who represents the neighborhood in question.

He congratulated Sullivan on her April 6 election victory over John Laratta.

"Now please stand up for us in Darien keeping it safe and a nice place to live!" Letrich wrote in an email. "Your opponent was ANTI POLICE and his poor showing confirms Darien is a law and order community. We don't want criminals here! HUD (Secretary Marcia) Fudge is an anti-white racist HATER to the MAX!"

Fudge is African American. Letrich provided no evidence for his assertion.

In another email, he said race had nothing to do with his position on the apartments, saying any person of any color who buys a home in his subdivision is a "bonus to us all."

But he made no bones about his distaste for HUD-subsidized housing.

"HUD means crime crime crime. To call the project an UPSCALE rental is BS," he said. "Don't vote for carjacking, robbery, even gang murders!"

Annie Shea, another neighbor, spoke during the public meeting, but also submitted written comments.

"Once you allow (the apartments) to go through to change from OWNERS to RENTERS in a large apartment building, there will be a never-ending revolving door of people constantly coming and going in Darien and a lot of unknowns that sound like they can't be regulated and no one will be able to change anything once that's happened," Shea said in an email. "It will change the entire dynamic of of our wonderful community, awesome town and surrounding communities a lot, and there's no going back."

Reflecting others' comments, Shea said owners are more vested in the town and that nearby renters would reduce the property values of "hard-working" residents. In her comments at the meeting, Shea said her neighborhood is diverse and that she and everyone else have been renters at one time.

Neighbor Kevin Drum said in an email to the city, "And what will happen if (the developer) can't rent all the apartments, maybe make it Section 8."

Julia and Victor Tijerina said they were uninterested in having "transient apartment renters" who will not work to make the community better.

Resident Scott Styles asked questions in an email to the city: "What's the long-term cost of lowered property values? How does a transient population impact crime? Schools? Darien's reputation as a nice place to live?"

At the meeting, Alderwoman Sullivan said that as a city, "we zone the use of land, not the users of land." She said the city could not base its decision on whether occupants will own or rent.

She voted against the project, saying the development was too dense for the land in question.

She singled out Alderman Vaughan for doing an "excellent job" in recapping his feelings about the project.

In breaking the tie, Mayor Joseph Marchese specifically mentioned Vaughan's comments in his reasoning to support the project. It was a 4-3 vote in favor.

In the United States, racial disparities exist in homeownership rates. According to the Federal Reserve, 74 percent of whites own homes, compared with 49 percent of Hispanics and 45 percent of African Americans.

In Darien, 83 percent of housing is owner-occupied, compared with the national average of 64 percent, according to the U.S. Census. In a far wealthier town such as Hinsdale, the rate is only slightly higher than Darien's, at 86 percent.

In 2019, 120 Darien families received Section 8-type vouchers, according to the DuPage County Housing Authority. The city makes up 2.3 percent of the county's population, but 3.8 percent of its 3,192 voucher recipients.

Still, voucher holders occupy a minimal portion of Darien's housing stock — 1.3 percent of nearly 9,000 units.

In December, Patch published a story about the Section 8 issue in Darien.