Although the leader of an organization helping disadvantaged minority youths contends race is a factor in his delayed plan to move into a Barrington Hills home with 25 children of color, village officials say the zoning code is the only issue.
Terrance Wallace wants to move his InZone Project into the 12,000-square-foot home on roughly 28 acres so he can provide opportunities for the children, who are under his legal guardianship, to live in a nurturing residential environment with support. He said he wants to relocate InZone to Barrington Hills from its temporary Wauconda home.
Wallace said he first contacted Barrington Hills in April 2018 to make village officials aware of his plan and did not receive a response for several months. He said officials have continued to ignore his recent emails.
“I definitely believe that has everything to do (with race),” Wallace said after he and several supporters brought their concerns to the village board meeting Monday night.
Village Attorney Patrick Bond said officials don’t have all the facts needed from Wallace and that race is not an issue.
“Everybody follows the same rules,” Bond said. “The zoning code doesn’t know what color you are, what race you are, what religion you are. That’s just not the case. The rules apply to everybody who comes into this village. And that’s not unique to this village. It’s not unique to this county. It’s not unique to this state.”
Read more here.
Hope everyone recognizes a shakedown when they see one.
How sad that our village can’t see a way to help these disadvantaged children. The zoning codes have been bent before. Open your hearts or don’t “black lives matter too” in Barrington Hills.
I’m not sure how enforcing zoning laws infringes on the BLM movement. Zoning has been ignored – do you remember the Airbnb shooting a few months ago?
What a wonderful mission. Hope the community welcomes these young men. I sure do.
Dearest Mom,
Chances are the property taxes will only pay for one of the twenty-five students he’s proposing to enroll in the District 220 school system. A 12,000 SF property in VBH is not that unusual, so why not approve 100 boarding houses in Barrington Hills? After all, I’m sure people won’t mind having their property taxed doubled if it’s for the poor children.
Too much flim flamming going on here and not enough honesty.
Why doesn’t Terrance Wallace legally adopt these kids. Problem solved. Case closed.
Not really. Zoning laws still apply, specifically maximum occupancy. By your logic he could adopt 500 kids and live in a 2 bedroom ranch.
Mr. Wallace is not being honest with the public. He claimed the village has been “silent” with no response to him yet an email went out to the reltor, the owner of record and potential occupant Mr. Wallace. Reminding each of the zoning use permitted. A group home is not permitted. How do we know this? It was publicly spoken about at board meetings. Not very “silent”
Pretty simple if you’re not a single-family residing on that property you are in violation of the code and the laws. If you want a variation or special use go to the zoning board and not the media first. Mr. Wallace knows this but continues to ignore the process all are required to follow regardless of race, creed, religion, or sexual preference.
Hollie,
Clearly it appears that you only have a half truth unfortunately. The Village did not respond as they stated in a legal document presented to me personal via email of which i responded meeting there request. I have a email confirmation from the Village then lawyer Mary Dickson (whom I just fired according to the statement made at the trustee meeting on June 29th 2020). Her email
Thu, Nov 15, 2018, 7:29 AM
. ” Mr. Wallace:
Thank you for your correspondence. I will review it, and discuss it with the Village and provide status.
Mary”
After many attempts to get a decision no one would communicate back with me. I followed the process that was given to me this was handled very badly and the Mayor should be held accountable for his action. At the very least someone should responded as stated in the communication dated Nov. 15th 2018.
Please understand the facts before taking a position which is what most do prematurely.
I, too, welcome these boys to BH and will do what I can to make them feel welcome and show them their Black lives matter.
From my interactions with DCFS as a CASA (court appointed special advocate), I believe group homes do not retain legal custody of the children placed there. Instead they remain in the custody of DCFS. Since Mr. Wallace has legal custody of these boys, they are his family; therefore, as this would not be a group home, I don’t see why a variance is needed. And if he needs to hire help to care for his family, he is certainly not alone in this community.
As far as taxes, I was never able to have children of my own, yet for over 35 years as a homeowner in various towns, I have paid my taxes to support the local schools. As a member of the community, that’s just one of your duties.
I get that some are fearful of having 25 Black boys move into BH, especially with what has been playing out in the media. I believe, however, it is unfair to label and treat these boys as anything other than kids needing a chance at life.
The cost per student at BHS is about $16k per year. Our duties are to support our community, not to support people who have never paid a dime in property taxes to this point. This proposal will be a net drain of about $400k per year. Why not invite every student in CPS to Barrington?