A group home for six adults with developmental disabilities cleared a key hurdle Tuesday, Aug. 4, when the DuPage County Development Committee voted 5-0 to approve the project on Plank Road in Lisle, overriding a unanimous denial recommendation from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The petition, filed by NGHC, Inc., still faces a higher bar: because the ZBA voted 6-0 against it, the full 18-member County Board must muster a three-fourths supermajority — 14 votes — to grant final approval.

Dave Nelson, the petitioner, told the committee his own daughter would be one of the home's six residents if the project moves forward.

What the project includes

The plan calls for converting an existing 4,745-square-foot single-family home into a group home, plus construction of a greenhouse and an accessory dwelling unit on the same property. The greenhouse would provide employment for residents. The ADU would house people associated with the group home residents.

In all, the petition requests 10 separate zoning variations. The proposed accessory buildings — a 3,850-square-foot ADU, a 2,880-square-foot greenhouse and a 259-square-foot existing shed — would total roughly 6,989 square feet, far exceeding the 2,600-square-foot maximum for detached accessory buildings in the R-3 Single Family Residential District. The ADU would rise to about 36 feet and the greenhouse to about 28 feet, both above the 24-foot limit for accessory structures. Total permitted occupants would increase from five to 12: eight in the group home and four in the ADU.

Why the ZBA said no

Paul Hoss, a planning and zoning coordinator with the DuPage County Building & Zoning Department, told the committee the ZBA's denial was not about opposition to the group home itself. Rather, the ZBA believed broader policy questions about accessory dwelling units should be left to elected officials, given the County's Ad-Hoc Housing Committee and other housing initiatives already underway.

"The reason for the recommendation to deny by the Zoning Board of Appeals was due to policy issues that are related to the County's Ad-Hoc Housing Committee and other housing initiatives," Hoss said at the Aug. 4 meeting. "The ZBA believe this should be left to the elected officials."

No neighbors objected.

Hoss described the surrounding Plank Road area as a "mixed use transitional area" and said two of the three proposed uses — the group home and the nursery as a 4-H project — are allowed by right. The conditional use is for the ADU; the main variations concern the ADU being a new building and the greenhouse exceeding size limits.

Hoss said no retail sales would occur on the property and that the zoning relief would end if ownership transfers.

Public support at the hearing

Sharon Costabile, a Naperville resident and founder of Engage Illinois, brought her daughter Rachel and Rachel's housemates Ashley McLeod and Ruth Pligge to speak in support. The three young women described being business owners and living independently with support. Costabile urged the committee to approve the petition so six other women with developmental disabilities could have the same opportunity.

Julie E. Jans, representing the Glen Ellyn-based Disability Advocates Support Group, also spoke in favor, saying the project would help meet the need for housing and employment for people with intellectual disabilities in their community of choice.

The vote

Committee member Mary Ozog made the motion to approve; member Brian Krajewski seconded it. The vote was 5-0, with one member absent. Chairman Sam Tornatore presided over the meeting, which ran from 10:50 a.m. to 11:32 a.m.

Hoss told the committee he is working with the DuPage County Ad-Hoc Housing Commission on broader ADU legislation for the County Board. The full board's supermajority vote on the NGHC petition has not yet been scheduled.