February 4, 2010 Orland Park News Highlights
Senior Living Facility Is Delayed in Orland Park
An unexpected halt was put on the future expansion of the Smith Crossing senior living facility Monday, as a majority of Orland Park trustees voted to bring the issue back up for approval in two weeks.
The senior living facility, which opened in 2004, currently covers approximately 260,000 square feet, houses 200 residents and provides varying levels of care for occupants. A 200,000 square-foot addition is in the process of being constructed, which will include a total of 106 new units.
Smith Crossing representatives and Trustees Brad O’Halloran and Kathleen Fenton were all taken aback by the postponing of approval suggested by Trustee Edward Schussler.
After nearly one minute of the board stating that there either wasn’t an issue or it wasn’t a significant one, O’Halloran spoke out.
“If there’s an issue, what’s the issue?” said O’Halloran.
Mayor Daniel McLaughlin assured Smith Crossing that the issue is not with any work they have done and doesn’t want to hold them up. He asked if the two week delay will be a major hardship toward the building process, which they responded, no.
“It sounds like there’s no problem with the project itself,” said McLaughlin.
Village Manager Paul Grimes apologized for not being properly prepared to discuss the issue, but stated it is a minor one.
“It basically has to do with getting a potential dedication of right of way for potential connection to Orland Parkway and 104th,” said Grimes.
Smith Crossing representatives were prepared to discuss this concern and stated that their traffic engineer was present at the meeting, but the village staff stated they would contact them for further discussion.