Feds Investigating Hinsdale Over Fair Housing

HINSDALE, IL — The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation of Hinsdale in light of the village's dispute with a sober living house. The agency is looking into possible violations of the Fair Housing Act.

Bradley Bloom, the village's assistant manager, acknowledged the investigation Wednesday and said the village is responding to requests for documents. He referred further questions to Village President Tom Cauley, who didn't return messages for comment. The investigation began a few weeks ago.

The Department of Justice typically does not comment on its investigations. The department's civil rights division is handling the matter.

The federal investigation was apparently prompted by the village's efforts to shut down Trinity Sober Living, which opened in August at 111 N. Grant St. It is for those recovering from alcohol and drug addictions.The village said it opposed Trinity because it violated the single-family zoning rule requiring that no more than three unrelated people can live in a house. It also alleged Trinity was a commercial operation.

In November, Michael Owens, Trinity's executive director and founder, filed a federal lawsuit alleging the village's actions were in violation of the Fair Housing and Americans With Disabilities acts. The laws bar discrimination against disabled people, and that includes those with drug and alcohol addictions, the lawsuit says.

Owens' attorney, Bradley Staubus of Burr Ridge, acknowledged the federal inquiry, but did not want to go into the details.

"We're pleased the Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the matter," Staubus said.

Last month, DuPage County Judge Brian Diamond issued a preliminary injunction stating that only residents as of that day could remain on the property. No new residents were allowed to move in. This decision prompted the village to send out a news release.

But the judge reversed course Tuesday, letting up to nine stay at Trinity. The village has been publicly quiet so far about this development, with Bloom saying he had yet to be made aware of it.

After the judge issued the February order, the village said in a news release that the decision avoided the "intensification" of the commercial use of the property. "The village is committed to enforcing its zoning code in an even-handed manner to preserve the character of our residential neighborhoods and to protect residents' property values," the release said.

In a September interview, Village President Tom Cauley told the Hinsdalean that the village's effort involved no fair housing violations. He told the newspaper that "if we had 10 nuns living there, we would have a problem under the zoning code."

In a previous statement, Owens said Trinity serves adult men with addictions who work in a variety of jobs and are from towns such as Hinsdale, La Grange, Western Springs and Clarendon Hills.

"It is crucial to their continued recovery that they live in a group setting with others battling the same disability," said Owens, a recovering alcoholic. "Therefore, it is a shame that a village, especially Hinsdale, continues to fight us and refuses to compromise when the need for a quality sober living environment is crucial to the success of the long-term recovery of these men in a group setting."

Since Trinity opened its doors, he said, its residents have had no issues with neighbors, police or anyone else in the village.

According to Trinity's website, a double bedroom costs $475 a week and a single goes for $625 a week.