Elmhurst Nursing Home Abandons Project For Now

ELMHURST, IL — An Elmhurst nursing home had gone months without answering city requests for an update on an expansion project opposed by some neighbors. But the city got no response — until last week, according to documents obtained by Patch on Wednesday.

Elmhurst Extended Care Center, 200 E. Lake St., has yet to break ground on the project, with its conditional use permit expiring last November.

In an April 13 letter, the nursing home cited a familiar reason for the delay — the pandemic. It said its occupancy rate is 40 percent of what it was when the coronavirus emerged, noting this is a national trend. Given the high rate of coronavirus deaths in nursing homes, many families have been reluctant to send their loved ones to such facilities, according to the letter.

The nursing home also said the change in control of the White House and Congress poses an uncertain impact on the heavily regulated long-term care industry.

The nursing home's letter was written by attorney Scott Day, who is no stranger to zoning issues in Elmhurst. (He is representing Roberto's Ristorante, which is battling neighbors in its request for new parking lots.)

Day said the effort to get the nursing home's permit in 2018 was one of the longest and costliest zoning procedures that he had experienced in his 40-year career.

Day said the nursing home was seeking a two-year extension for its conditional use permit. He said the family owners are confident that the need for larger facilities will eventually return.

"From a simple business standpoint, EECC needs to find a way to survive the current economic crisis impacting the industry in which they function. And that will take time," Day said.

The Dave family has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in zoning, engineering, architectural designs and permitting, Day said.

"They very dearly hope to retain their vested interests in the plan and entitlements they fought so hard to achieve," the attorney said.

On Tuesday, a week after the nursing home's letter, Assistant City Manager Mike Kopp issued a memo noting the lack of communication from the nursing home in the last few months.

He said city staff was discussing the matter with the city attorney's office to determine the appropriate steps in responding to the nursing home's request for a two-year permit.

In November, the city deemed the construction project "substantially underway," even though construction had not begun. The city justified its statement by noting the amount of money the nursing home had already spent on building drawings, purchase of a building permit and erection of a construction fence, among other things.

After failing to get answers from the nursing home, the city informed the facility in an April 8 letter that it planned to revoke the permit.

Elmhurst resident Jay McNichols, who lives next to the planned expansion and opposes it, has been filing public records requests with the city on the status of the project. He has given that information to Patch.

After Patch published a story Wednesday morning about the nursing home, Ward 3 Alderwoman Dannee Polomsky emailed the latest documents to McNichols, who then sent them to Patch. Polomsky represents the neighborhood in question.