Covenant Living of Northbrook expansion heads to further review

The Northbrook village board wants clarity on an expansion plan by Covenant Living of Northbrook.

Covenant Living, at 2625 Techny Road, is a senior residential community that's part of a Skokie-based organization with 19 facilities nationwide. It is seeking a zoning change from single-family to multifamily residential at the northeast corner of its 55-acre planned development.

It wants to replace a 24-unit, one-story building with three 3-story carriage houses providing a total of 36 units. Presales are underway. The new buildings would be about 52 feet tall, under code.

The plan would redevelop a pair of single-family residential lots on Techny Road and about the western third of two lots on Greenview Road to relocate a stream and provide stormwater detention.

Two other residences the company purchased are being renovated to rent through a realtor, said Randy Gross, Covenant Living's vice president of development. Those parcels would be kept R-3, single-family.

With modifications to the initial plan through three plan commission meetings after initial village board review, and studies by engineering firms engaged separately by the village and Covenant Living, trustees felt comfortable water detention would be sufficient.

Northbrook Village Engineer Jack Bielak said residents actually should benefit from the work.

The plan commission recommended approval of the plan to the village board on Aug. 1 with a 4-2 vote and one abstention.

Earlier this month, trustees said they were grateful for the 60-year-old senior living community and acknowledged its desire to remain competitive in the industry. But they were alarmed about an expansion's impact on emergency service calls.

In 2022, Covenant Living requested 582 emergency medical technician service calls, often for lift assists of residents. Northbrook Trustee Muriel Collison said a development containing less than 1.5% of the village's population should not represent 7.5% of those calls.

She said she wouldn't support the proposal until a plan was in place to reduce EMT calls, which she said was "an abuse of our fire department."

A proposal for an impact fee of $1,500 toward the fire department had been submitted, said real estate attorney Dan Shapiro, speaking on behalf of Covenant Living.

Covenant Living's neighbors also appreciated what it delivers its 516 residents, but several neighbors felt the company lacked in its outreach efforts. They cited a short lead time before an informational meeting.

Some also said homes on Greenview Road purchased by the company for rentals had not been maintained until recently.

In addition to public comment, Northbrook Village Clerk Debra Ford read a number of letters from residents whose concerns included lowered property values and "the present and future of Greenview Road."

After a neighbor said Covenant Living had bought six Glenview Road properties, Trustee Joy Ebhomielen sought more than a "vague plan" on what the company planned to do with them.

Village President Kathryn Ciesla agreed. "Trust is significant," she said.

Ciesla said the matter would be discussed at a future committee of the whole meeting followed by another board discussion. Her main thrust, she told a group that included Covenant Living President and CEO Terri Cunliffe, was emergency calls, community outreach and an overall plan.

"I'd like you to tell us what the master plan is," Ciesla said, "so we're not sitting here anticipating what the next board may do, (and) so the neighbors have some certainty as far as what's going on."