Hinsdale To Pay $790K To Settle Lawsuit: Proposed Pact

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale is poised to settle with a group home that claimed in a lawsuit that the village committed fair housing violations.

“The parties have reached an agreement in principle, but the terms need to receive final approval from the (Village Board) and the Department of Justice," Michael Owens, Trinity Sober Living's executive director, said in a statement to Patch. "Until that time, we are not providing any comment regarding the terms of the settlement.”

Patch obtained a copy of the proposed consent decree, which would last four years.

According to the document, the village must pay $790,000 to Trinity for monetary damages, attorney fees and costs. It also must pay a $10,000 civil penalty to the U.S. government, the decree said.

Under the decree, the village must provide training to employees in planning, zoning and related fields and the village president and village trustees. The village also must designate a fair housing compliance officer to take complaints of alleged violations.

The decree would also require the village to repeal sections of its zoning code dealing with group homes for people with disabilities. It must then enact regulations clarifying that group homes serving people with disabilities shall be a permitted use by right in any residential district.

On Tuesday, Patch left messages for comment with Village President Tom Cauley and Village Manager Kathleen Gargano.

In November 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the village over its actions against Trinity, which was at 111 N. Grant St. The government alleges Hinsdale violated the Fair Housing Act.

The lawsuit was filed less than three weeks after Trinity's.

The litigation has cost the village more than $1.5 million.

When Trinity opened in July 2019, it drew almost immediate objections from neighbors.

In response, 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 the number of unrelated people in a single-family housing zone.

Shortly before the federal government sued in November 2020, the village backed down on its argument that the group home was a commercial operation.

Trinity moved out of its Hinsdale house in late 2020. It has a house in Bensenville.