Darien Mayor Says Meeting Embarrassing

DARIEN, IL — Darien Mayor Joseph Marchese said this week he was embarrassed for the town because of the way opponents of a zoning request treated a business owner at a recent meeting. He did not name the business, but he was likely referring to Modell Funeral Home, which was seeking a special-use permit to add a crematory.

After the meeting earlier this month, the funeral home, 7710 S. Cass Ave., withdrew its proposal. Residents opposed the request, saying they feared the emissions would affect their health. They said the community has already suffered because of the two Sterigenics plants in Willowbrook, which are believed to have emitted cancer-causing pollutants.

At this week's City Council meeting, Mayor Joseph Marchese said he had no problem with people expressing their opposition to a project at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. But he said zoning applicants deserve to be treated with respect. Instead, people booed representatives of the business and attacked them personally, he said.

"The way the petitioner was treated by people in the audience that night was despicable," Marchese said. "I'm very proud of our city, but that night I was embarrassed. No petitioner deserves to be treated the way they were treated."

Unfortunately, the mayor said, the recent meeting represented "something we're seeing a lot of lately."

"If I offended anyone, I apologize, but I needed to say it," Marchese said.

A few days after the zoning meeting, Modell co-owner Andrew Brunsen issued a statement to the city announcing the withdrawal of the request. The city posted the message on its Facebook page.

"As was shared at the community meeting, all of us at Modell deeply value listening, understanding and supporting the families and community we serve," Brunsen said in the statement. "After further considering feedback from the community meeting, we have decided to withdraw our crematory petition at this time."