Hinsdale Loses Battle With Sober Living Home

HINSDALE, IL — Trinity Sober Living in Hinsdale can have up to nine residents living in its house on Grant Street, a judge ruled Tuesday. This was despite the village's request to cease all commercial use of the property.

On Feb. 7, DuPage County Judge Brian Diamond issued a preliminary injunction stating that only tenants as of that day could remain on the property. No new residents were allowed to move into the house.

But the judge decided Tuesday to let up to nine live in the house at any given time. He said he made this decision after reviewing submitted information from the village and Trinity.

Trinity, which is at 111 N. Grant St., is in a single-family zone where no more than three unrelated people can live in a house, according to the village's zoning regulations.

In an interview Wednesday, Michael Owens, Trinity's founder and executive director, said the home had nine residents when the February order was issued, but that the number dropped to four within a month, which reflects the normal cycle of tenant departures. He said he had hoped to cap the number of residents to 10, which he said was reasonable given the space in the house.

Trinity opened in August. "The village has put so much pressure on us to shut down," he said.

Bradley Bloom, the village's assistant administrator, said Wednesday morning that he was not yet aware of the judge's latest order.

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. Trinity has filed a federal lawsuit, alleging the village's decisions violate fair housing laws.