Grayslake apartment opponents to argue their case

Some Grayslake residents used a large balloon this week to show what 72 feet would look like where an apartment building they are fighting is proposed for low-income residents 55 and older.

Grayslake's advisory zoning board of appeals will hold a fourth continued public hearing Thursday on the plan from Mercy Housing Lakefront of Chicago. It'll start at 7 p.m. at village hall, 10 S. Seymour Ave.

Zoning panel members will forward a recommendation to the Grayslake village board, which gets the final say on all issues.

Mercy Housing wants an amendment to a special-use permit to construct the four-story, 70-unit building on Route 120 across from the village's namesake, Gray's Lake. It would be called Lakefront Lodge.

At Thursday's continued public hearing, an attorney for the opposition residents will present evidence designed to show Mercy Housing's plan is lacking, and possibly cross-examine the company's representatives.

Photographs of a large, tethered red balloon reaching 72 feet at the Mercy Housing site on Route 120 are part of exhibits attached to an affidavit that opposition resident Michael Andrews has submitted to the zoning board of appeals.

Andrews said the balloon, floated Monday, was meant to demonstrate the maximum height a clock tower would reach as part of Mercy Housing's apartments. He and other opponents contend the building would be too tall and detract from the Route 120 corridor along the lake.

“The citizens of the village of Grayslake must realize this (apartment building) is going to be the monument of Grayslake,” Andrews said.

Lawyers, executives and other Mercy Housing representatives have made presentations and answered questions from zoning panel members. They say there's a need for affordable housing for the 55-and-older set and the building would fit the area.

In a letter to the Daily Herald this week, Mercy Housing Lakefront President Cindy Holler reiterated the site at Neville Road and Route 120 has been zoned for senior housing since 1998.

Holler said Mercy Housing wants to construct a better apartment building than one originally planned for the land in 2007. That's why Mercy Housing wants approval for an amended special-use permit, she said.

“Our design reflects the architecture of Grayslake,” Holler said.

Project supporters include Lake County United, an organization of churches, synagogues, mosques, civil and labor groups involved in issues such as affordable housing.

Some potential residents could come from the Lake County Housing Authority, a public agency with low-income clients. Village officials say federal fair housing laws would prohibit making the apartments automatically available to all Grayslake residents wishing to live there.