Hinsdale Breaks Silence On Federal Lawsuit

HINSDALE, IL — Hinsdale officials had been publicly silent about a lawsuit filed last month by the U.S. Justice Department alleging the village violated the Fair Housing Act.

But in a letter to residents Wednesday, Village President Tom Cauley announced the village would "actively" fight the lawsuit. He said the village followed the law and worked to preserve the right to zone its neighborhoods.

Cauley was referring to the village's 16-month dispute with the Trinity Sober Living House, which opened in July 2019. The village called for the house's closure, saying it was a commercial operation in a residential neighborhood. And it said the house violated the village's rule for single-family zones — no more than three unrelated people in a house.

In the letter, Cauley said Trinity, which houses men with addictions, bought the house at 111 N. Grant St. to house up to 10 unrelated people without consulting the village.

"As Trinity Sober Living knows, there are other locations in Hinsdale that could be appropriate and lawful locations for their group home, but Trinity Sober Living never discussed any of those locations with the village," said Cauley, who is a lawyer.

Last month, Trinity closed the Hinsdale house voluntarily, having sold the structure. It has a house in Bensenville, but its executive director, Michael Owens, told Patch last week the group plans to find another home in Hinsdale.

Because the lawsuit is pending, Cauley said, the village is limited in what it could say publicly. He promised to keep residents updated, saying the village would work to protect the rights of all residents.

In response to Cauley's statement, Owens said he disagreed with the village president's statement that Trinity knew other locations in Hinsdale would be more appropriate.

"Where would that location be? I’ve never heard the Village President suggest where Trinity could have operated a sober house besides a residential district," Owens said. "We operate Trinity Sober Living as every other family does in Hinsdale. We believe, as a family, we belong in a home within any residential district in any village, city or town in Illinois. Mr. Cauley and the Village of Hinsdale need to stop treating Trinity Sober Living and our recovering residents as second-class citizens."

According to the federal lawsuit, the village failed to consider a "reasonable accommodation" for a home with people with addictions. That is required for people with disabilities under the Fair Housing Act, the lawsuit said.

The federal government said Hinsdale's argument that Trinity was a commercial operation and thus prohibited would essentially ban all group homes for people with disabilities.

After finding out in early November that the federal government would sue, village officials dropped the argument about the house being a commercial operation, according to the lawsuit.