City of Galena v. Dunn

583 N.E.2d 616, 222 Ill. App. 3d 112, 164 Ill. Dec. 700, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 2044
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 5, 1991
Docket2-91-0079
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 583 N.E.2d 616 (City of Galena v. Dunn) 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 Galena v. Dunn, 583 N.E.2d 616, 222 Ill. App. 3d 112, 164 Ill. Dec. 700, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 2044 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE UNVERZAGT

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Patrick Dunn, and his wife owned a 100-acre dairy farm in rural unincorporated Jo Daviess County upon which they decided to build their personal residence. Mrs. Dunn went to the county office on June 28, 1990, and got a county building permit. They also received a septic permit from the county health department. They commenced construction of their home. The county inspected the construction and gave the Dunns a certificate of compliance.

The City of Galena (City), the nearest municipality to the Dunn property, sent its zoning enforcement officer to the Dunn farm with a notice to stop work. The defendant continued construction.

The City brought suit against Patrick Dunn, asking that the court enjoin him from further construction of his building, and to impose fines for violation of the zoning ordinance of the City for Dunn’s failure to obtain a building permit from the City. Defendant moved to dismiss the complaint. The court held a hearing on that motion and, thereafter, entered its order which found that “the City of Galena does not have authority to enforce their building code violations within one and one half miles from their territorial limits.” The order granted defendant’s motion to dismiss.

The City asked for rehearing in the trial court or, in the alternative, permission to file an amended complaint. The trial court granted the City leave to file its amended complaint.

The amended complaint alleged that defendant violated the City’s zoning ordinance by not obtaining a building permit and asked the court to assess a fine for that violation. Count II of the amended complaint requested the court to issue an injunction to prevent the defendant from continued construction. The affidavit of the City’s building official was attached to the complaint. That official stated that defendant continued to build on his property and that defendant had been notified of the need for a building permit, an electrical permit, and for a heating permit. The building official stated that construction had continued and the stop work notice had been ignored by the defendant.

A bench trial was held on the City’s amended complaint. The City’s sole witness at that trial was Dan Weeks, the City’s building inspector and deputy zoning administrator. Weeks testified that he was familiar with section 11 — 13—1 of the Illinois Municipal Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 24, par. 11 — 13—1), which enabled municipalities to fix standards to which buildings or structures shall conform. A major part of Weeks’ job is to ensure that such conformity occurs.

Weeks testified that to assure compliance with the fixed standards for buildings and structures, the City required that an application for a permit be submitted with an accompanying site survey or plan, showing lot location and back and side setbacks, and a blueprint or schematic drawing, showing the building layout such as size of rooms, stairway locations, foundation and footing design, roof design, and electrical openings. Without this permit process, Weeks stated, the City could not be assured that a structure complied with the fixed standards, and risks to the health, safety, and welfare of the community could occur. Weeks said that by requiring that construction plans be preapproved before a permit is issued, such risks could be avoided. Weeks stated that after issuance of a permit, various inspections occur throughout the construction of a structure to ensure that the construction is being done according to the approved plan. After the construction is completed, a final inspection occurs, and an occupancy permit is issued.

Weeks recalled that he first learned of the construction on defendant’s property, which is located within V-k miles of the City limits, when Sproule Construction (Sproule), the construction company putting in the foundation for defendant’s house, sought a building permit for that purpose. At the time Sproule requested the permit, it submitted a copy of a blueprint and a little picture of defendant’s house and indicated to Weeks that defendant intended to submit to the City the necessary plans for the residence. Based on Sproule’s assurance that defendant’s plans were forthcoming, Weeks issued the permit for the foundation and subsequently inspected the footings for the foundation and the steel placement and construction standards for the foundation before it was poured.

Subsequently, Weeks drove by the site of the foundation and discovered that construction on the rest of the residence had started. No permit had been issued for the construction. Weeks wrote a letter on June 26, 1990, which was entered into evidence, informing defendant that construction must stop until Weeks received and had an opportunity to review defendant’s blueprint for the structure and any revisions to the plan. Weeks related that defendant never responded to his letter.

Six days later Weeks returned to defendant’s property. Posted at the entryway to defendant’s driveway was a “No trespassing” sign which Weeks did not recall seeing earlier. From his vantage point, Weeks observed that construction was still occurring. On July 9 Weeks again returned to defendant’s property and noticed that further construction had occurred. Having received no plan from defendant to review and having made no inspection of defendant’s structure during construction, Weeks stated that he did not know if defendant’s structure complied with the City’s building standards.

Weeks stated that he was familiar with the City’s zoning ordinance and that section 15 pertains to permits. The applicable section, 15.2.1 provides:

“15.2.1 Building Permit.
15.2.1.1 Building Permit Required. No building or structure shall hereafter be erected or structurally altered until a building permit shall be issued by the City stating that the building or structure and use of land comply with the regulations of this Ordinance and all building and health laws and ordinances of the City.” (City of Galena, Ill., Zoning Ordinance 0 — 75—1, §15.2.1 (1990).)

Weeks said that defendant had not complied with this requirement.

Weeks testified that he was familiar with the action brought by the City against defendant and with the two remedies sought, the assessment of a fine according to the City’s zoning ordinance and the issuance of an injunction. According to Weeks, all the City was really seeking was compliance with the zoning ordinance, i.e., that defendant file the requisite application for a building permit and pay the applicable fee.

Weeks testified that he was familiar with the location of defendant’s property but did not know the size of the property. According to Weeks, defendant’s land was primarily used for agricultural purposes, and construction of a residence on property zoned for agricultural use was permitted. Weeks stated that from the observations he made from some distance away from the structure he could tell that the structure was going to be V-k stories in height but that he had no idea whether the structure complied with the City’s standard for height.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Gurba v. Community High School District No. 155
2014 IL App (2d) 140098 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2014)
Napleton v. Village of Hinsdale
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2007
The County of Cook v. Monat
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2006
County of Cook v. Monat
847 N.E.2d 689 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2006)
Harris Bank of Roselle v. Village of Mettawa
611 N.E.2d 550 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1993)
Turner v. State
568 N.E.2d 1046 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
583 N.E.2d 616, 222 Ill. App. 3d 112, 164 Ill. Dec. 700, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 2044, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-galena-v-dunn-illappct-1991.