free of intended exclusion based on race and ethnicity, requesting that the
wording be altered to state that there could be inadvertent exclusion. She said
that it was a legitimate concern that older municipal land use and zoning
ordinances may inadvertently hold back current land use decisions that could
possibly support a range of housing choice. However, the AI did not indicate that
Tower Lakes does not have a public sewage facility, which would limit the types
of housing that could be supported. Furthermore, most of the small communities
in the BACOG area have a minimal number of undeveloped buildable lots, a fact
that also limits new construction. As required by the Lake County Health
Department, Tower Lakes must adhere to the regulations pertaining to setbacks
and load capacity of these lots, all of which are on well and septic, along with
storm water management regulations to control the flow of runoff to the area’s
lakes and streams. Ms. Leitner added that another concern for lower-income
households would be the area’s limited employment and transportation
opportunities. She reiterated Ms. Angoletti’s proposals that smaller communities
should be grouped by quadrants rather than studied individually and that the
addition of a fair housing employee should be fully paid by federal funds.
Mr. John Quintanilla, of Prairie State Legal Services, spoke about the agency’s
services, which include assisting clients with their fair housing issues and
providing fair housing testing and education for the community. He spoke of
three areas in which clients often express concerns: 1) racial discrimination
without evident proof; 2) discrimination due to criminal history or source of
income (i.e., a housing voucher); and 3) discrimination to a member of a
protected class, especially discrimination based on disability.
If the
discrimination was based on a disability that jeopardized a client’s current
housing, Prairie State would step in to request reasonable accommodations to
permit the client to retain residency, as it could be difficult to locate new housing.
Mr. Quintanella stated that his agency was not able to assist complaints based
on discrimination due to criminal history or source of income, as those were not
protected classes. He said that education to both housing providers and the
public was very important, as many were unaware of the protected classes,
especially the rights of people with disabilities.
A motion was made by Commissioner Rosenthal, seconded by Commissioner
Cunningham, to close the public hearing at 4:32 p.m. The motion was approved
by all members of the HCDC.
U:\CommunityDevelopment\Community Development Commission\Minutes\2014\10.15.14\AI Public Hearing Comments 10.15.14.docx