Hawthorne v. Village of Olympia Fields

765 N.E.2d 475, 328 Ill. App. 3d 301, 262 Ill. Dec. 338
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedFebruary 8, 2002
Docket1-01-0447
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 765 N.E.2d 475 (Hawthorne v. Village of Olympia Fields) 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
Hawthorne v. Village of Olympia Fields, 765 N.E.2d 475, 328 Ill. App. 3d 301, 262 Ill. Dec. 338 (Ill. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinions

PRESIDING JUSTICE CAMPBELL

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, the Village of Olympia Fields (the Village), appeals from an order granting partial summary judgment in favor of plaintiff, Sonya D. Hawthorne (Hawthorne), in connection with plaintiffs complaint against the Village for prohibiting the operation of a day care facility from her home.1 On appeal, the Village contends that: (1) the Village’s zoning ordinance, which limits commercial day care businesses in homes, is valid and not exclusionary; and (2) the Village is not preempted by state law from exercising land-use control over home day care. The circuit court denied the Village’s motion to stay judgment pending appeal. The Village filed an identical motion in the appellate court pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 305(h) (134 Ill. 2d R. 305(h)); this motion was taken with the case.2 For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment of the trial court and deny the motion for stay.

BACKGROUND

The record reveals the following relevant facts. The Village of Olympia Fields is a non-home-rule municipality located in southern Cook County. The Village has a comprehensive zoning ordinance (Zoning Ordinance) which establishes permitted and nonpermitted uses of property within various zoning districts in the Village. “Home occupations” are permitted in zoning districts defined as R-l, R-2, and R-3. The Zoning Ordinance defines “home occupation” as follows:

“Home occupation means any gainful occupation or profession engaged in by an occupant of a dwelling unit as a use which is clearly incidental to the use of the dwelling unit for residential purposes. The ‘home occupation’ shall be carried on wholly within the principal building or within a building accessory thereto, and only by members of the family occupying the premises ***. There shall be no exterior display, no exterior sign except as allowed by the sign regulations for the district in which such ‘home occupation’ is located, no exterior storage of materials, no other exterior indication of the ‘home occupation,’ or variation from the residential character of the principal building, and no offensive noise, vibration, smoke, dust, odors, heat or glare shall be produced. Offices, climes, doctors’ offices, hospitals, barbershops, beauty parlors, dress shops, millinery shops, tearooms," restaurants, tourist homes, animal hospitals and kennels, among other things, shall not be deemed to be home occupations.” Olympia Fields Municipal Code, §§ 22-187, 22-207, 22-227 (Ord. No. 17, as revised May 11, 1981).

The Child Care Act of 1969 (225 ILCS 10/1 et seq. (West 1998)) (the Child Care Act or Act), was adopted by the Illinois legislature prior to the effective date of the 1970 Constitution, which established the distinction between home rule and non-home-rule units of local government. Under section 2.18 of the Act, “Day care homes” are defined as family homes which receive more than 3 up to a maximum of 12 children for less than 24 hours per day. 225 ILCS 10/2.18 (West 1998). A day care home may receive children at any time of the day or night as long as the stay of the child is less than 24 consecutive hours. A day care home cannot be operated as a “child care facility” without a license or permit issued by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).

The Child Care Act is comprised of many sections. Section 7 sets forth the minimum standards for licensing of facilities and the substantive areas where the DCFS may prescribe standards. 225 ILCS 10/7 (West 1998). The authorized standards are specifically restricted to 15 enumerated areas, none of which authorizes the DCFS to preempt non-home-rule zoning authority. The DCFS is restricted and mandated by subsection 7(a)(5) to prescribe standards for:

“The appropriateness, safety, cleanliness and general adequacy of the premises, including maintenance of adequate fire prevention and health standards conforming to State laws and municipal codes to provide for the physical comfort, care and well-being of children received[.]” 225 ILCS 10/7(a)(5) (West 1998).

The DCFS must require day care homes to comply with municipal building and fire safety codes, but does not exempt day care homes from other zoning requirements.

The DCFS promulgated regulations entitled “Licensing Standards for Day Care Homes” pursuant to section 3 of the Child Care Act. 89 Ill. Adm. Code § 406 et seq. (1998). Section 406.13 provides that an owner “alone” may care for up to eight children without any assistant. If the owner employs an assistant, the owner and the assistant may care for up to 12 children under the age of 12. Section 406.12 provides that children may remain on the premises for more than 12 hours in any 24-hour period if the parent’s employment schedule requires more than 12 hours of day care. 89 Ill. Adm. Code § 406.12 (1998). Under section 406.8(k), a day care home must provide an outdoor play area such as the yard of the home. 89 Ill. Adm. Code § 406.8(k) (1998).

The DCFS issued a license to Hawthorne to operate a day care home in her residence, effective October 28, 1999, and valid through October 28, 2002. The license allowed Hawthorne to care for children from the ages of 6 weeks to 12 years old. Late in 1999, Hawthorne made an application to the Village to remodel her residence to accommodate her business. By letter dated December 16, 1999, Village administrator Mary Clumpner3 advised Hawthorne that her proposed operation of a day care home did not fall within the definition of “home occupation” under the Zoning Ordinance. The letter stated that Hawthorne’s proposal to have another employee work at Hawthorne’s residence did not conform to the Zoning Ordinance; that parents dropping off and picking up as many as 14 children would be an exterior indication of the home occupation; and that a second kitchen for purposes of the operation would change the residential character of the principal building. In addition, the use of the backyard for an outdoor play area would also be contrary to the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance.

On January 5, 2000, Hawthorne filed a petition for zoning variance, requesting two forms of relief. First, Hawthorne requested a variance to allow the operation of a day care home as a home occupation. Second, Hawthorne requested a variance to allow a nonfamily member employee to work at the facility. On January 24, 2000, the Village board of trustees conducted a public hearing on the variance requests. A number of residents expressed concerns relative to the proposal at the public hearing. In particular, they were concerned with the increase in traffic, disruption of residential tranquility, and employment of nonresidents in the home. Following the hearing, the president and board of trustees denied Hawthorne’s requests for the variances.

Hawthorne filed a verified complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief.

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Hawthorne v. Village of Olympia Fields
765 N.E.2d 475 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
765 N.E.2d 475, 328 Ill. App. 3d 301, 262 Ill. Dec. 338, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hawthorne-v-village-of-olympia-fields-illappct-2002.