Grundy County Board rejects permit for addiction rehab center

The Grundy County Board rejected a special use petition for a proposed Existential Counselors Society rehabilitation center at the former location of Gipper’s II, 8455 E. Pine Bluff Road near Coal City.

Over 40 members of the public attended the meeting to speak on the matter, including people recovering from addiction, doctors, and concerned residents.

While the public comment skewed heavily in favor of the project, the Grundy County Board voted against the special use petition on a 10-7 vote.

The facility as proposed would serve men ages 21-65, and all potential clients go through a criminal background check. Dr. Bipin Sharma already has three rehabilitation facilities in Joliet. The proposed facility would employ 10 people and visitors are not allowed.

The county’s Land Use Director Heidi Miller said the rehabilitation center came with a positive recommendation from the Zoning Board of Appeals, and a rehabilitation center is allowed on this property as a special use since it is already zoned as commercial.

The Land Use Committee unanimously opposed allowing 8455 E. Pine Bluff Road to become a rehabilitation center, Miller said.

Among those who voted to approve the project was board member Deb Warning, who has a nursing background and was able to tour Dr. Bipin Sharma’s other facilities along with her husband.

“Dr. Sharma gave us free rein,” Warning said. “He said I could talk to anybody and I did. He said I could interview the staff. They were very friendly, and very respectful. It was an understated facility. From the outside, you wouldn’t really know what was going on in there.”

Warning said she understands why there’s opposition from the neighbors, but she believes a rehabilitation center is something Grundy County needs.

“People agree that there’s a drug problem,” Warning said. “They agree that we need rehab. Most of it has come down to if it’s safe, and if the site is good? I’m here tonight to say I think that site is great.”

Coal City Fire Chief Jim Seerup addressed the board with his concerns. He said he spoke to one of the fire chiefs in the area of one of Sharma’s other rehabilitation centers and he learned that department ran 43 calls there. These calls, Seerup said, ranged from small reasons to large reasons but they were still calls for service.

“Coal City runs two ambulances every day, covering Coal City, Carbon Hill, Diamond and Goose Lake,” Seerup said. “It’s about 10,000 people we cover. We have a couple of healthcare facilities here, Riverside and Morris Hospital, a couple of seniopr centers, so our call volume is around 2,500 calls for service per year.

“This facility and the added calls, we will take care of these people,” he said. “They will get care from us, but it’s a lot of extra calls and the added tax revenue that I get back from this place wouldn’t be enough.”

Sharma said he wants to work with the neighbors and the community. He said nine out of 10 calls to the police involved in his rehabilitation centers are marked down as such because the calls are for the fire department, and the police come as backup. These calls are typically made in the case of a resident being suicidal or having a medical emergency.

Sharma said the facility in Grundy County would be able to house 14 people at its maximum capacity, and it would typically house between 11 and 13 as they go through the recovery process.

Grundy County Sheriff Ken Briley said he also has concerns, though he understands that there is a real need for this kind of rehabilitation center in the county. He’s just not in favor of this location because many of the people in this kind of facility can’t drive.

“I don’t know how many people say they have the ability to drive them somewhere or a staff member drives them somewhere, or they call an Uber or a family member,” Briley said. “We had a young lady hit by a semi truck on Pine Bluff Road in a broke down car, an 18-year-old girl killed out there. We lost one of our board members on Pine Bluff. It’s a dark Road, and there are no sidewalks. You’re either walking on grass or you’re walking on the road.”

Many of the County Board members said while they voted on the permit they did so because they don’t like the proposed location.

Sharma said his intention is to reapply.

“I’ll keep coming back because I will show my patience and my persistence and my determination, and we will do this entire song and dance again,” Sharma said. “I don’t have that fear of having to come back in front of you and propose something that I genuinely believe in.”