City of Chicago v. Rago

544 N.E.2d 993, 188 Ill. App. 3d 482, 136 Ill. Dec. 218, 1989 Ill. App. LEXIS 1330
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 1, 1989
DocketNo. 1-88-1414
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 544 N.E.2d 993 (City of Chicago v. Rago) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Chicago v. Rago, 544 N.E.2d 993, 188 Ill. App. 3d 482, 136 Ill. Dec. 218, 1989 Ill. App. LEXIS 1330 (Ill. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE EGAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an appeal from an order holding the defendants in contempt and fining them for failure to comply with a previous court order.

The plaintiff, City of Chicago, filed a complaint against the defendants on October 22, 1984, seeking to enjoin them from operating a crematory inside a garage without a permit and to require them to restore the garage at 2419 West Erie Street in Chicago to its original condition. The defendants were holders of the beneficial interest in the land trust that held title to the property. The defendant, Louis Rago, operated a funeral parlor at 624 North Western Avenue across the street from the garage and used the garage “as part of [its] business.”

On October 31, 1984, the judge enjoined the defendants from performing cremations. The order provided that the “status quo of the subject premises shall remain in full force and effect and that there shall be no use of or work on the crematorium until such further order of the court.”

The matter was continued pending the outcome of a related zoning case in which either the defendants or others were seeking to obtain a legal right to maintain a crematory in the garage.

On September 21, 1984, the Zoning Board of Appeals gave authorization for the installation and usage of a crematory in the garage. The circuit court of Cook County upheld the Zoning Board’s decision on November 8, 1985. The appellate court later reversed the trial court in a Rule 23 order and remanded the matter to the Zoning Board of Appeals. On October 17, 1986, the Zoning Board ruled that the crematory could not be operated on the defendants’ property because it violated the city zoning ordinance.

The parties returned to court on January 7, 1987, and the judge continued his previous order enjoining the defendants from operating the crematory and further ordered an interior inspection of the garage before the next hearing date.

At the next hearing on January 21, 1987, the city inspector testified that he conducted his inspection on January 13, 1987, and found that the crematory equipment remained a part of the garage. A stack was still attached to the roof of the garage, and the gas lines were still connected to the furnace. The judge held that everything in the garage that was part of the crematory had to be removed and the building had to be restored to its previous condition. He found the defendants guilty on count I of the city’s complaint, fined them $1,000 and entered a permanent mandatory injunction which in part required them:

“To disconnect all furnace equipment, to remove all crematory furnaces and equipment including the stack and necessary appurtenances from the subject premises and to restore the building to its original condition, IMMEDIATELY as soon as possible.” (Emphasis in order.)

The order also provided that the court would reserve jurisdiction for the purposes of enforcement, modification or termination of the injunction. The defendants’ motion to vacate the fine was continued.

During the hearing the defendant’s attorney told the court that his client did not want to keep the furnace in the garage and that it was his client’s wish to move it. He also informed the court that he had told the corporation counsel before the hearing that his client had no problem with moving or disconnecting the furnace. He said that his client’s problem was that it would take some time to relocate the piece of equipment, which weighed in excess of three tons. (The evidence later established that the furnace weighed 11 tons.) He mentioned a time span of a “few months” and a “couple of months.” The assistant corporation counsel told the court that he would agree to a 60-day extension to permit the defendants to remove, the furnace. The court continued the case until March 25 and ordered another interior inspection before that date.

At the hearing on March 25, 1987, the inspector testified that the furnace remained in the garage. However, the gas lines and stack on the roof had been disconnected.

Louis Rago, one of the defendants, testified that he was not the owner of the crematory and that the owners were looking for sites on which to relocate the furnace. The owners were attempting to sell the furnace in the event they could not relocate it. They were encountering difficulties because of the bad publicity the crematory had received; however, they did want to relocate it and did not want to store it in the garage. He explained that the stack had been disconnected, but due to its size and the weather conditions it remained on the roof. The judge fined the defendants an additional $1,000 for noncompliance with the terms of his injunction and continued the case for three weeks. The defendants’ motion to vacate the new fine and their previous motion to vacate the fine entered at the January 21, 1987, hearing were continued.

At the next hearing on April 23, 1987, the inspector testified that the stack had been removed from the roof, but the furnace remained in the garage.

Rago testified that there was no reason why the furnace could not be moved. The problem was that he had no place to put it. He had been refused storage of the furnace in Melrose Park two weeks before the hearing. He had been talking to the owner of a crematory operation in either Libertyville or Mount Prospect who evidenced an interest in buying the furnace.

The judge expressed an opinion that the city Department of Streets and Sanitation could probably get the furnace out within 48 hours, then put it on a truck and take it to a city lot if the defendant was having trouble removing it. The attorney for the defendant told the judge that they were waiting for a purchaser. The judge responded as follows:

“I think we can arrange for the defendants, for the Streets and Sanitation, on the order of court, to remove that and put that in one of its facilities and store it. Of course, the cost of that will have to be borne by the defendants. Now if it comes to that, then it will be done. I want to give the defendants here an opportunity to remove it pursuant to these orders of court without the necessity of bringing in the Department of Streets and Sanitation into the picture at all. I think there must be some place it can be stored, as large of an area as we have in Chicago and its environs. I’m sure there’s some storage facility that will accept it.”

The judge fined the defendants an additional $1,000 for noncompliance with the prior injunction order.

At the next hearing on May 21, 1987, the inspector testified that an appointment had been arranged with the defendants for the previous day at 3 p.m., but no one answered the bell, and he was unable to gain access for his inspection. The defendants’ attorney told the judge that the owners were still attempting to sell the furnace. The judge told the defendants’ attorney that he should get a truck, take the furnace out and store it. He said that he was sure that there were some warehouse facilities available for storage. For the first time the defendants’ attorney expressed disagreement with the court’s injunction order of January 27, 1987; but he did not express the reasons for his disagreement.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
544 N.E.2d 993, 188 Ill. App. 3d 482, 136 Ill. Dec. 218, 1989 Ill. App. LEXIS 1330, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-chicago-v-rago-illappct-1989.