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Committee approves conditional use and plan-description amendment for residential treatment facility at Farnsworth International site
Summary
Aurora’s BZ and E Committee approved an amendment to the Farnsworth International plan description and a conditional-use permit allowing a residential treatment facility to occupy an existing 49,322-square-foot building, limited to up to 40 children with specific staffing ratios and operational conditions.
The Aurora BZ and E Committee voted Oct. 15 to amend the Farnsworth International plan description and grant a conditional-use permit to allow a residential treatment facility serving children and adolescents to occupy the existing building on Corporate Boulevard.
Tracy Vacek, director of the zoning and planning division, told the committee the application would modify the existing conditional-use language to permit a residential treatment facility including educational services for children and adolescents with mental-health and behavioral difficulties. "The request is to occupy the existing 49,322 square foot building as is for the mental health facility serving children from 12 to 21 years old who have mental health and behavioral challenges," Vacek said.
Petitioner Dr. David Anderson, CEO of Lydia Home Association, described Lydia Home as a 110-year-old nonprofit that operates two similar residential-treatment facilities in the region and proposed an on-site therapeutic day school and clinical services including individual and group therapy, occupational therapy and a psychiatrist to manage medications. "Our intent is for the kids after their issues are resolved ... to return to a family setting," Anderson said.
Committee members pressed staff and the petitioner on operational details: staff said the committee placed five conditions on the approval, including a maximum occupancy of 40 children; a minimum staffing ratio of 1 staff per 3 children between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. and 1 per 5 between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.; limiting services to residents and their families (no outside clients at the site); a requirement that any fencing or gates be reviewed by Zoning & Planning and the Fire Prevention Bureau prior to building permits; and implementation of previously approved landscape plans and removal/replacement of dead or dying plants before a certificate of occupancy.
Vacek and Anderson also clarified that residents would be wards placed by the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and that state processes control inpatient hospitalization decisions (the transcript references the state SAS process). Committee members asked about teacher licensure (petitioner said instructional staff would be licensed and the therapeutic school would be approved by the board of education) and psychiatric coverage (petitioner said there would be one psychiatrist on staff to manage medications).
A motion to amend the plan description and a motion to grant the conditional-use permit subject to the five conditions were each moved, seconded and approved by voice vote.
Note on record: the agenda initially lists the property as "998 Corporate Boulevard" while staff later refers to the subject property as "9998 Corporate Boulevard" in the presentation. That discrepancy is recorded in the meeting transcript and should be verified in the formal file and legal descriptions before final permitting.
