Hanna v. AMER. NAT. BANK & TRUST OF CHICAGO

639 N.E.2d 1326, 203 Ill. Dec. 507, 266 Ill. App. 3d 544
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 29, 1994
Docket1-92-0175
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 639 N.E.2d 1326 (Hanna v. AMER. NAT. BANK & TRUST OF CHICAGO) 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
Hanna v. AMER. NAT. BANK & TRUST OF CHICAGO, 639 N.E.2d 1326, 203 Ill. Dec. 507, 266 Ill. App. 3d 544 (Ill. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE CAMPBELL

delivered the opinion of the court:

On May 11, 1987, plaintiff, Albert C. Hanna, brought an action to enjoin defendants, American National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago, as trustee under trust agreement dated October 22, 1987, and known as trust No. 30378, and John A. Brown, from constructing two four-story, masonry towers on defendants’ property, in violation of a 50-foot building setback line which plaintiff alleged was applicable to defendants’ property. The towers were to extend flush to the sidewalk, with no setback remaining. In lieu of an answer, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment. The trial court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment and plaintiff appealed. On appeal, this court held that material issues of fact existed pertaining to the existence and enforceability of the setback line, and as to defendants’ theory of abandonment and waiver, and reversed and remanded this cause to the trial court for a trial. Hanna v. American National Bank & Trust Co. (1988), 176 Ill. App. 3d 938, 531 N.E.2d 961 (Hanna I).

On remand, following a bench trial, the trial court granted plaintiffs requested relief and permanently enjoined defendants from constructing the proposed building over the 50-foot building line. Defendants now appeal the judgment of the trial court, contending that: (1) the trial court erred in failing to rule on defendants’ affirmative defense of acquiescence; (2) the trial court’s ruling that the 50-foot building line was not abandoned was against the manifest weight of the evidence; (3) the trial court erred in ruling that the 50-foot building line had not been judicially abolished; and (4) the trial court erred in ruling that there had not been a material change in the character of the neighborhood so as to render the building line void. For the following reasons, we affirm.

The record reveals the following relevant facts. Plaintiff filed a motion in limine requesting that defendants bear the burden of proof and of proceeding at trial. Plaintiff argued that the fact that a 50-foot setback line was created by the 1860 plot of subdivision is not in dispute, but rather, defendants have raised the affirmative defenses of abolishment and abandonment.

Defendants filed a response to plaintiffs motion, outlining seven defenses as follows: (1) that the 1860 setback line of 50 feet was abolished by an 1889 superior court case; (2) that the setback line was abandoned because of prior numerous, substantial violations of the line; (3) that plaintiff and plaintiffs predecessors in title have waived the right to enforce the setback line; (4) that there has been a change in the character of the neighborhood which makes enforcement of the setback line unreasonable; (5) that the setback line is not enforceable because defendants’ property is zoned for commercial use; (6) that the setback line is not enforceable because the object of the restriction can no longer be accomplished; and (7) that defendants did not have legal notice of the restriction. On September 12, 1990, the trial court ordered that the defendants proceed bearing the burden of proof at trial, and allowed defendants to raise at trial the defenses as set forth in their response to plaintiffs motion in limine.

The record indicates that defendants made certain admissions prior to trial, including: (1) that they are the legal owners of 2508-2518 North Clark Street, a/k/a 501-519 W. Deming Place, the property located at the southwest corner of Clark Street and Deming Place; (2) that plaintiff is the owner of a three-story building located at 541 West Deming Place, Chicago, and that the properties located on the south side of Deming Place running west from Clark Street to Orchard Street, including plaintiffs and defendants’ properties, are located in outlet "C” and were subject to a 50-foot setback line when created by a plat of subdivision recorded on November 27, 1860; (3) that defendants’ title insurance policy issued upon the purchase of its property contained a restriction reserving the "north fifty feet *** solely for courtyards and are not to be built upon”; (4) that the Cook County recorder of deeds tract book 560-B outlet "C,” pages 4 and 5, contains entries pertaining to defendants’ property; and (5) that the Cook County recorder of deeds tract book 560-C outlet "D,” pages 122 through 126, contains entries pertaining to Wrightwood Avenue property located one block north of Deming Place.

The following relevant facts were adduced at trial. Plaintiff’s property and defendants’ property are separated by three separate four-story, multi-unit, brick apartment buildings and a 20-foot alley. Defendants’ property is the only property on the south side of Deming Place, west of Clark Street, which is zoned for commercial use.

Deming Place is a one-way street, extending for only two blocks, west from Clark Street to Orchard Street. The only point of vehicular entry onto Deming Place, aside from an alley, is from Clark Street, as Geneva Terrace, the street intersecting Deming between Orchard Street and Clark Street, is a one-way street running south.

In support of their contention that the 50-foot setback line on Deming Place was abolished, defendants introduced into evidence defendants’ exhibit 3, page 74 of the official City of Chicago map, which displays the south side of Deming Place, extending west from Clark Street to Geneva Terrace. Contained on the map is note "E,” which appears in the left-hand margin of the map as follows: "Superior Court Case No. 125303, abolishes Bldg, lines on Business Streets.” Note "E” is shown on the map as being applicable to the setback line existing on the south side of Deming Place, from Clark Street west to Geneva Terrace. Note "E” is also shown on the map as applying to several setback lines along Clark Street. The north side of Deming Place is not shown on the map.

A survey dated May 17,1989, prepared at plaintiff’s request, and admitted as plaintiff’s exhibit 14, shows that defendants’ building is set back from the sidewalk in excess of 50 feet. The survey further shows that every building on the south side of Deming between defendants’ property and Geneva Terrace violates the 50-foot setback line from 5.61 feet to 6.78 feet. The plaintiff’s survey notes that the City of Chicago map indicates that superior court case No. 125303 abolished the 50-foot building line.

The remains of the court file in the superior court case referred to in note "E” of the map revealed only that the case was entitled Gould v. Turner and Delaney, and that the case was dismissed by stipulation for want of equity on February 28, 1890. The court file does not contain the stipulation between the parties, nor does it contain any pleadings or any other information regarding the nature of the case.

Plaintiffs submitted into evidence certified copies of pages from the official tractbooks maintained by the Cook County recorder of deeds, regarding both defendants’ property, and property located one block north at the northwest corner of Clark Street and Wrightwood Avenue. The tractbook pages contain no entries referring to superior court case No. 125303 and do not indicate that the parties Gould, Turner or Delaney ever had title to the property.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
639 N.E.2d 1326, 203 Ill. Dec. 507, 266 Ill. App. 3d 544, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hanna-v-amer-nat-bank-trust-of-chicago-illappct-1994.