It appears more and more clearly that the Illinois Diversatech Concerned Citizens may not have much chance to stop 45 units of planned low and moderate-income housing planned for the old Diversatech campus.

We say low and moderate because eligibility guidelines mean anyone making $1 less than the average wage in the county would be eligible. Some of the folks in those apartments could turn out to be senior citizens trying to get by, struggling single moms or just young people starting out in life. Apartment housing often has an undeserved bad reputation. Average people, though, must have some place to live.

What happened last week was a ruling by the Kankakee County Planning, Zoning and Agriculture Committee that it had no legal grounds to impose a moratorium to stop the project.

Indeed, the applicable zoning has been in place for years. The old Manteno Mental Health Center has been closed for 20 years now.

One board member posited the proposition that zoning plans should be reviewed to prohibit a junkyard or adult entertainment center. We agree with that. Always fascinating how elastic land use can be in Kankakee County. Giant landfills met with little zoning opposition.

What needs to be done now is to perhaps come up with a rule that prevents the current debate from being repeated. Everyone hopes when they move next to an empty field that their eventual neighbors will be the Hiltons and not the Griswolds.

So here's what we think: When you buy a piece of property, the zoning of all the surrounding property, out to perhaps half a mile, ought to be given to you in the form of a map. This will cut down on surprises and at least allow the concerned among us to plan more efficiently. We know, we know; someone will object to another layer of paperwork.

But this entire argument might have been avoided if the people in Manteno had known what might be coming.