Neighbors vs. Nuns: Catholic Order Proposes Winery, Brewery, School as Part of McHenry Co. Expansion Plan

Photo credit: Fraternite of Notre Dame website 

Neighbors to a monastery in rural McHenry County are not on board with an expansion plan that would bring a school, nursing home, winery, brewery and gift shop to the farmland, which opponents say could ruin the pastoral nature of the area, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The nuns are accusing residents of religious discrimination while neighbors question the sisters backgrounds and intentions for the site, which is located about three miles south of Marengo and Union, the newspaper reports.

The expansion request made by the Fraternite of Notre Dame was brought to the McHenry County Zoning Board on Wednesday night where the board voted 4-3 in favor of the proposal, according to the Northwest Herald. A request for approval or denial needs at least five total votes.

The issue will now be brought to the County Board, which in 2005 OK’d a conditional use permit at the property for a covenant, monastery, bakery, and chapel, according to the newspaper.

The order is not a part of the Roman Catholic Church and takes a more traditionalist approach, which supports a return to a Latin Mass. Many within the order live on property that includes farms, wine-making operations and breweries as a way to allow them to be more self-sufficient, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The order owns 95 acres of land 10 miles northwest of the Huntley Outlet Center and residents living in the area say they do not oppose religion but do not want any type of large-scale business enterprise cropping up in the quiet, rural location, the newspaper reports.

“It’ll bring a lot more traffic and construction,” Chester Kawa, who lives two houses away, told the Chicago Tribune. “I’ve got country living here. All their buildings are going to ruin the beauty of the country.”

Read more on the Chicago Tribune