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Will County board approves zoning changes and special-use permits, including inpatient rehab permit
Summary
The Will County Board on Dec. 18 approved multiple zoning map amendments and special-use permits, including a special-use permit and map amendment for a proposed halfway house/inpatient rehabilitation facility at 111 Patterson Road. Dozens of health providers and residents urged the board to approve a separate proposal for a new women’s residential treatment program.
The Will County Board voted Dec. 18 to approve several zoning map amendments and special-use permits, including a map change and a special-use permit for a halfway house or inpatient rehabilitation facility at 111 Patterson Road in Joliet.
The board approved the map amendment from C-4 to R-5 and, in a separate roll-call vote, the special-use permit for the rehab facility. Chair Pretzel introduced the measures and both motions carried on roll calls.
The votes followed a land-use public hearing that included an extended presentation from Dr. Bipin Sharma, CEO and founder of Existential Counselor Society (ECS), who asked the board to permit a licensed, locked residential program for women. "As of 11/25/2025, women accounted for 13 of the 59 overdose deaths in Will County," Sharma said, urging the board to "respectfully ask for your yes vote." Multiple providers and community partners testified in favor of the proposal, including Angela Solis of Crossroads Counseling Services, Nisha Stringfellow of HLM Recovery, Paula Ekstrom of the Wilmington Coalition for a Healthy Community and representatives from Heartgrove Behavioral Health and Silver Oaks Behavioral Hospital. Speakers described clinical benefits of gender-responsive residential care and said the program would improve continuity of care for women discharged from area hospitals.
Board members closed the public hearing before taking the land-use votes; the chair reminded the public that no new evidence is allowed after the hearing record is closed.
Other zoning matters approved included a map amendment at 13737 South Archer Avenue (ORD25-353) and a special-use permit for light equipment sales and rentals in New Lenox (ORD25-355). The board also adopted ORD25-356 amending Chapter 155 of the Will County Code of Ordinances on temporary uses.
The board tabled zoning case ORD25-298 until January and approved several special-use permit extensions for commercial projects, including extensions related to solar facilities, after roll-call votes.
The most recent procedural step on the ECS proposal at the meeting was the public hearing and public commentary. Board members did not state a separate, final ordinance number tied explicitly in the hearing transcript to ECS’s specific women’s residential program; the board’s recorded votes on the docket included the listed ORD items that were approved during the meeting. Future agendas will show any additional ordinance or permit language for ECS if the board advances the application.
The board scheduled additional committee meetings in January and February for continued consideration of land-use and related county business.
