Dispute continues over Haymarket treatment center in Itasca

Nearly six years after Haymarket Center announced a plan to open an addiction treatment facility in Itasca, the nonprofit remains locked in a legal fight with the DuPage County town.

Itasca trustees unanimously voted in November 2021 to reject Haymarket’s request to convert a former Holiday Inn into a 240-bed facility for patients with substance use and mental health disorders. In response, Haymarket filed a federal lawsuit against the village in January 2022, arguing that Itasca officials violated antidiscrimination laws.

In the latest twist, a federal judge has ruled the U.S. Department of Justice cannot join Haymarket’s lawsuit against Itasca.

The decision by Judge Steven Seeger “was a very significant win for the village of Itasca,” the village’s lead attorney, Renato Mariotti, said. “It evens the scales a little bit.”

However, Ken Walden, managing attorney for Access Living, part of the legal team representing Haymarket, contends the judge’s decision “said nothing about the merits of the case.”

“We are confident in our case,” Walden said. “We are endeavoring to enable Haymarket to save lives in DuPage County.”

Haymarket’s lawsuit argued officials violated the Fair Housing Act and other laws that prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities. People with substance use disorder are considered people with disabilities under the FHA, the suit noted.

“We allege that the village’s decision was discriminatory based on the population to be served by Haymarket in Itasca,” Walden said.

According to the original complaint, officials refused to treat the proposal as a special use as a “health care facility,” and insisted Haymarket apply under the more onerous and less appropriate “planned development” standard. The village board’s vote ultimately came after more than 35 hearings.

Haymarket President and CEO Dan Lustig said in a statement Friday that “Itasca officials put an oversized emphasis on how its one ambulance could not absorb any potential demand from our patients.”

“We negotiated in good faith, offering to purchase an ambulance and to contract with a private ambulance provider — they refused both,” he said.

Lustig said the village has maintained the “false argument” that a treatment facility would strain emergency services in the village while expanding its resources to operate two ambulances and build a second fire station. The Itasca Fire Protection District is building the station along Arlington Heights Road.

“Haymarket believes the village has a moral obligation to reconsider our zoning application in light of these developments,” Lustig said.

However, Mariotti argues Haymarket “has not meaningfully engaged with the village to try to account for and grapple with the serious resources issue the village has.”

In addition to the concern about village resources, Haymarket’s plan was opposed by many residents who rallied against the project, wore “Small Town Proud” shirts and insisted the facility would hurt property values.

Meanwhile, Judge Seeger ruled on March 31 against the Justice Department’s request to intervene as a plaintiff in Haymarket’s case against the village.

Even if the Justice Department was eligible to participate, the judge wrote it would cause delays and that Haymarket was capable of defending its own interests.

Itasca Mayor Jeff Pruyn reiterated in a statement that officials “will not stop fighting to preserve Itasca’s legal rights.”

Haymarket is one of the region’s largest providers of substance use and mental health treatment, accepts individuals for treatment regardless of their ability to pay and provides services including career counseling. People from DuPage and the collar counties often seek treatment at its facility in Chicago, per the lawsuit.

“This effort to expand lifesaving substance use disorder treatment began in August 2019 and we remain hopeful that a resolution is within reach,” Lustig said. “Lives are at stake.”

According to the court docket, the two sides continue to depose witnesses and experts and exchange documents. The next court hearing is in July.