Clarendon Hills Sober Home Plan Withdrawn

CLARENDON HILLS, IL — A group that wanted to set up a sober living home in Clarendon Hills has withdrawn its proposal. It had drawn the opposition of neighbors.

Trinity Sober Living, which has a home in Bensenville, proposed another one at 539 Ruby St. in Clarendon Hills. It would have been for women.

In an email Tuesday, Michael Owens, Trinity's executive director, told Patch the group figured the house on Ruby Street was not the best option now.

"It’s an expensive house for us to maintain especially since we are only allowed four women in the house until we get approved for a conditional use permit," Owens said. "We quickly realized that this conditional use permit process is going to take much longer than we thought and more expensive."

Even if the village approved the permit, Owens said, Trinity would probably have less than six months on the lease. The group also had no guarantee it would be able to sign a new lease, he said.

"We decided that there are many other communities around the western suburbs that are much easier to work with, and we hopefully wouldn’t get the negative backlash from the neighbors," Owens said.

He said the owners of the house are "awesome" people to work with and that they understood Trinity's position.

"The housing market is very hot right now, so I’m hopeful that they are able to sell it quickly," Owens said. "It’s such a beautiful home."

Opponents of the sober living home argued it was not a good fit for a residential neighborhood. The homeowners, however, said the neighbors were "bullying" and spreading "malicious lies."

Last fall, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Hinsdale over the village's unsuccessful effort to close Trinity's group home for men. The department alleged the village violated the Americans With Disabilities and Fair Housing acts. Trinity closed its sober home in Hinsdale voluntarily late last year, noting it had a home in Bensenville.