Attorney for the Fraternite of Notre Dame, Tom Zanck, confers at the witness table with the Order’s Mother Mary Martha, prior to the start the county’s ZBA hearing. Photo by Greg Harutunian/for Chronicle Media

Efforts by the Fraternite of Notre Dame Order, based in unincorporated McHenry County near Marengo, in seeking a special use permit for expanded operations resulted in a continuance by the county’s Zoning Board of Appeals, following an Apr. 29 afternoon hearing. The day’s witness statements included a presentation by the architect that designed the additional structures and grounds layout.

“The entire matter was continued until May 27, as I understand, the architect provided testimony and most of the allotted time was spent on that presentation,” said Darrell Moore, the deputy director for the McHenry County Department of Planning and Zoning. “They haven’t reached the public comment section, and there are indications of a traffic impact study, and people to talk about that.

“Their (Order’s) attorney, also stated there was a matter of septic system design,” he said.

Tom Zanck, representing the Order, had outlined the witnesses, during the initial Apr. 9 hearing, detailing the improvements and infrastructure at the 95-acre property at 10002 Harmony Hills Road. The current permit request comes on the heels of a similar allowance granted in 2005, for a place of worship including a monastery and church, seminary, convent, retreat center, bakery, printing press, and a cemetery.

Area residents contending a nuisance impact again filled the adjoined conference rooms, along with members of the Order. Many of the structures cited in the original permit have come to fruition, and what was considered a “broad neighborhood dispute” actually displayed itself to be a decade-long history of simmering discord.

At issue is the Order’s petition for a special use permit to allow the construction of a barn with a commercial kitchen, a winery, and a brewery. It also seeks the capability to build and operate a school with an attached dormitory for kindergarten through twelfth grades, a nursing home with hospice services, and a gift shop to sell pastries, religious articles, wine made on-site, and a tasting area.

At its heart is a spectacular lack of detailed information being provided to residents of the Harmony Hills Estates residential community and a strident but heartfelt effort by the Fraternite of Notre Dame Order to navigate established codes to meet their goals for an expanded settlement through faith.

Zanck said that residents were demanding details of a finished project, which were not available, when in actuality was an initiative to establish a foothold for the expansion. The petition filing for the permit came in Sept. 2014, one month before a newly-adopted Unified Development Ordinance was effectuated by the county board.

The project’s architect, Johnny Bueno Abdala, highlighted the new buildings, layout, and siting for the buffer zones through easelboard displays, and size listings. Mother Mary Martha, the Order’s Mother Superior, deferred to Abdala, while the presentation was made to ZBA members.

The Fraternite of Notre Dame was founded in Frechou, France in 1977, and operates humanitarian missions and charitable endeavors to benefit the poor in numerous parts of the world. An established site in Chicago’s Austin section led to its migration toward Marengo, pursuing a religious retreat and settlement.

The hearing has been continued until May 27, when testimony will resume on behalf of the Order.