by Joseph Omoremi
The All-Nations Assembly Church (ANAC) and RoseHeart Renewal Center (RoseHeart) have filed a-five-point allegations of unfair housing discrimination against the Village of Olympia Fields at the Northern District of the U.S District Court, in Chicago.
ANAC, a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) filed the charges after the Village of Olympia Fields turned down its application to turn the 22-acres property to a 120-bed drug addiction and rehabilitation center.
It is “a clear violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), American with Disabilities Act ADA), Rehabilitation Act (RA), the Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the Illinois Equal Protection of the Ilinois state Constitution as well as the a state zoning law claim that seeks among other things judicial review of the Villages decisions”._
Describing the rejection of the re-zoning as “blatant discrimination” despite satisfying all the criteria set forth in the Village of Olympia Fields Zoning established requirements and sought compensatory damages, attorney’s fees cost, punitive damages and other relief as deemed by the court.
“This not in my backyard (NIMBY) mentality is not only illegal, but it perpetuates the growing public health problem posed by what has become a public epidemic of drug and alcohol addiction in the United States, “according to the plaintiffs.
RoseHeart lamented that it signed a purchase agreement with ANAC since 2019 but could not execute the contract because of the rezoning denial even though it would have earned the school $56,500.00 annually.
The plaintiffs stressed that the NIMBY mentality also “causes lasting harm by depriving addicts a viable rehabilitation treatment center, increasing deaths and serious injuries, and unlawfully prohibiting willing caretakers from carrying out their plans to combat addictions.”
ANAC and Roseheart described the actions of the village as a violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Rehabilitation Act as well as the 14th Amendment Act.
Besides federal laws, the plaintiffs also described the re-zoning denial as a “violation of the state of Illinois law of de novo judicial review as a legislative decision of the municipality” since the proposed usage would not be injurious to the neighborhood or detrimental to the public welfare in any way.
Instead, the plaintiff affirmed that the facility would promote public health and welfare in the neighborhood and community. The plaintiffs urged the court to overturn the rejection of their application because the actions of the Village of Olympia Fields “were arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, and in violation of the Ordinance and the laws of the State of Illinois.”
ANAC and RoseHeart also urged the court to grant them preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to turn the facility to alcohol and drug addiction center without interruption and interference from the Village of Olympia Fields.
The plaintiffs also seek a jury trial as the court awaits the response of the Village of Olympia Fields to the allegations. Existing facilities in the complex include a chapel, offices and meeting rooms, a kitchen, dormitories and apartments.
The apartment has 39 bedrooms. More than $367,000.00 had been expended to repair the alarm sprinkler system across the complex and additional $4,200 and $5,000.00 in the order for the repair of the sanitary sewer and trash recharged.
It will be recalled that Pastor Akano was one of the three founding pastors of RCCG in Chicago. Others are Pastors Bayo Adewole of RCCG in Chicago and Pastor Wale Akinosun of RCCG in Schaumburg.
He was the first to set up another parish of RCCG in Rogers Park in the early 2000 and subsequently moved to Southwest La Grange from where the church bought Olympia Fields property from Catholic church.
Otherwise known as the multipurpose Tolentine Monastery, the church was used to train Catholic Church Reverend Fathers in North America before the sale to Vintage Healthcare Services in 2013.
