Supporters Back Church's Affordable Housing Development Plan

The planned 48-unit apartment development designed for middle income families has seen its share of vocal detractors, but supporters of the joint venture between Zion Lutheran Evangelical Church, Brinshore Development LLC and Housing Opportunity Development Corporation are showing they are just as passionate.

The goal for the development on the property of the Deerfield Road church is to allow an affordable option for those families earning between $27,000 and $50,000 a year. If implemented, potential tenants would need to have no more than 60 percent of the area’s average income and pay no more than 30 percent of their earnings for rent.

It’s a good plan to allow hard-working people the chance to enjoy all that Deerfield has to offer, according to resident Gayle Byck, who wrote a letter in support of the plan to village officials.

“I struggle with understanding the opposition to a private venture which seeks to provide affordable housing to hard-working people who may work in or near Deerfield,” Byck said. “With our wonderful schools, parks, recreation, proximity to public transportation and major highways, and community spirit, Deerfield is a great place to live and raise a family. I see no reason why we should deny people the opportunity to live here simply because they do not meet preconceived notions of what a Deerfield resident looks like and has in his/her bank account.”

A recent public meeting on the issue generated passionate arguments both for and against the church’s plan, according to the Deerfield Review. Some said that the thought was a good one, but the plan would stretch the zoning regulations too far.

“The issue is not low-income housing but the integrity of Deerfield’s zoning classifications,” said Jerry Saltarelli, a resident of the 900 block of Heather Road adjacent to the property. “People have a lot of their net worth in their homes.”

Residents of the church development will “not be as stable as people who already live here,” Evelyn Lewis said days prior to the meeting. “When people with lower income move in others will move out. That was my experience in Chicago and that was on the Gold Coast.”

Dozens of letters on the issue have been sent to the village, with a clear majority being against the project.

READ MORE: Affordable Development Plan Irks Some Deerfield Residents

Victoria Street, responding to the above article via Facebook, called those viewpoints “absolutely ridiculous.”

“We need diversity and I’m embarrassed by these residents,” she said. “Is it ok for these people to work in your community but not ok to live next door? They can take care of your children, yard and clean your house but not live in your community?”

The negative reactions to the development are not surprising to 16-year Deerfield resident Lisa Zebovitz - but they are appalling, she says.

They remind Zebovitz of a development proposed in Deerfield in 1960 by Morris Milgram, who had developed the integrated community of Greenbelt Knoll in Northeast Philadelphia, where she grew up.

Milgram had a similar plan for a development in Deerfield, but according to Zebovitz, the village “ran him out of town.” Milgram’s plan included reserving 12 of 51 homes to be built for African-American buyers.

“In response, our local government enacted eminent domain and immediately condemned the building sites as public parks, halting construction,” Zebovitz said.

When the decision was upheld by the County Court, Milgram began a long and costly appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court in hopes of reversing the county’s judgment. Civil rights activists became involved and sit-ins were organized at what would have been the construction site but ultimately, Milgram lost the battle and the development was never completed.

The appellate decision triggered a response from Eleanor Roosevelt just months before her death in 1962.

“Deerfield, in a state of hysteria, condemned for park sites land where an integrated housing development was under construction,” she wrote to Milgram, in part. “I am greatly interested in the Deerfield situation, because the problems of integration -- in schools, in churches, and in job opportunities -- will not be resolved until all people can live anywhere in this wonderful land of ours.”

What do you think?

Tell us if you are in favor or opposed to what’s being proposed at Zion Lutheran Evangelical Church in our comments section below.

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