Rodriguez v. Henderson

578 N.E.2d 57, 217 Ill. App. 3d 1024, 160 Ill. Dec. 878, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1218
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 17, 1991
Docket1-89-1562
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 578 N.E.2d 57 (Rodriguez v. Henderson) 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
Rodriguez v. Henderson, 578 N.E.2d 57, 217 Ill. App. 3d 1024, 160 Ill. Dec. 878, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1218 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE WHITE

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiffs appeal from dismissal of their amended complaint, which alleged the invalidity of a city rezoning ordinance. Grounds for dismissal were that at least some plaintiffs lacked standing and that some or all had failed to state a claim. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

In their amended complaint, plaintiffs alleged that the City of Chicago acted unlawfully when, by ordinance, it rezoned a parcel of Chicago property (the former Ludwig Drum Company factory buildings, on 2.42 acres at Willow Street and Damen Avenue) from an Ml-2 restricted manufacturing district to a Cl-2 restricted commercial district and then to a commercial-residential planned development. Chicago City Council J. (Sept. 22, 1988), at 18099, 18103 — 07, codified at 1990 Chicago Zoning Ordinance (Chicago Municipal Code ch. 194A (1984)) (hereinafter Chicago Zoning Ordinance) map 5-H, at 75B (CRPD No. 455).

Under the rezoning ordinance, the Ludwig Drum property is to be used for residential units, “work/live” units, and business, commercial, and retail establishments. Each work/live unit is to be used as a full- or part-time residence in conjunction with a business, commercial, or retail use in the same space. Of the four buildings on the property, the developers are to make “all reasonable efforts” to establish work/live uses in three. However, exclusively residential uses are prohibited in only one of the buildings. The maximum number of dwelling units permitted is 115. The number of off-street parking spaces required for all uses is 147.

Plaintiffs include the owners of two nearby factories; the owner of a nearby residential building and her son, both of whom reside in her building; and nearby residential lessees. Ex-Cell Metal Products Company, Inc., and Churchill Cabinet Company are the factory owners. Maria Rodriguez and Raul Rivera are the mother and son. Karen Sandler, Arlene Rosado, and Glenn M. Picher are the other residential tenants.

Defendants are the intended developers; their land trustee in title, La Salle National Bank, as trustee under trust No. 110709; and the City of Chicago (the City). The developers are Duncan Y. Henderson and Leonard Webster (individually and as partners) and their partnership, Willow-Damen Partnership.

The gravamen of plaintiffs’ case is that, by artificially driving up property values, the rezoning will displace plaintiffs as they become unable to afford continued residential or manufacturing use of their properties because of rising rents or taxes, increased production or maintenance costs, and destroyed neighborhood economic and social fabric. Scholarly literature has commented on influxes of higher-income residents as they affect established lower-income residential neighborhoods. See, e.g., Bryant & McGee, Gentrification and the Law: Combatting Urban Displacement, 25 Wash. U.J. Urb. & Con-temp. L. 43 (1983); Note, Reassessing Rent Control: Its Economic Impact in a Gentrifying Housing Market, 101 Harv. L. Rev. 1835 (1988).

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In count I of their amended complaint, because of a variety of alleged injuries attributed to the rezoning, plaintiffs contended that the rezoning was arbitrary and capricious in violation of their State substantive due process rights. In count II, they alleged that the rezoning violated the City’s own rezoning criteria, and in count III they alleged that the rezoning procedure violated the City’s procedural requirements. In each count, plaintiffs asked the court to declare the rezoning ordinance void and to enjoin defendants from using or developing the Ludwig Drum property in any manner not permitted in Ml-2 Restricted Manufacturing Districts.

The developers successfully moved under section 2 — 615 of the Civil Practice Law (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 110, par. 2 — 615) to dismiss the amended complaint. The City joined in the motion. Earlier, the developers had successfully moved to dismiss the original complaint, and their second motion incorporated the contentions of their first. This opinion discusses the motions and rulings en bloc.

The developers contended that several plaintiffs owned no real property in the vicinity of the rezoned property and for that reason lacked standing. The developers also contended that the damage allegations by all plaintiffs were indefinite, contradictory, or speculative and that, because all plaintiffs had thus failed to allege any legally cognizable injury or special damages arising from the rezoning ordinance, all plaintiffs lacked standing.

In ruling on dismissal motions, the court held that the plaintiffs who owned no real property in the vicinity (i.e., Rivera, Sandler, Rosado, and Picher) lacked standing.

The court held further that the plaintiff who owned residential property (i.e., Rodriguez) had not stated a claim on which relief could be granted, because “[t]he mixed message sent by a residential owner challenging the propriety of a residential use for the drum factory does not allege a violation of the zoning ordinance or of her constitutional rights.” In addition, the court was “unaware of precedent which would recognize an increase in the property value as an injury” to her.

Moreover, the court held that plaintiffs failed to allege facts showing that the Chicago city council did not consider the factors set forth in La Salle National Bank v. County of Cook (1957), 12 Ill. 2d 40, 145 N.E.2d 65, and that accordingly the complaint failed to state a claim based on an arbitrary and capricious act of rezoning.

Finally, the court held that the injury alleged by the manufacturing plaintiffs (i.e., Ex-Cell and Churchill) was too speculative to support a claim for relief.

ANALYSIS

A. COUNT I: CONSTITUTIONALITY

1. LA SALLE FACTORS

The trial court’s dismissal order was generally grounded on a holding that plaintiffs had failed to state a claim of arbitrary and capricious rezoning that would have violated their substantive due process rights under section 2 of article I of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, §2). In the trial court’s view, this was because plaintiffs had failed to allege facts showing that the city council did not properly consider factors listed in La Salle National Bank v. County of Cook (1957), 12 Ill. 2d 40, 145 N.E.2d 65.

A zoning ordinance is presumed valid, and a successful challenge requires proof, by clear and convincing evidence, that its enactment was arbitrary, capricious, or unrelated to the public health, safety, and morals. (La Salle, 12 Ill. 2d at 46, 145 N.E.2d at 68-69.) If the reasonableness of a zoning ordinance is merely debatable, the courts will not interfere. Thompson v. Cook County Zoning Board of Appeals (1981), 96 Ill. App. 3d 561, 576, 421 N.E.2d 285, 297.

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

Related

Robinson v. City of Chicago
2025 IL App (1st) 232174 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2025)
Paul v. County of Ogle
2018 IL App (2d) 170696 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2018)
Whipple v. Village of North Utica
2017 IL App (3d) 150547 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2017)
Moutinho v. Planning & Zoning Commission
899 A.2d 26 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2006)
1350 Lake Shore Associates v. Casalino
816 N.E.2d 675 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2004)
LaSalle National Bank v. City of Highland Park
799 N.E.2d 781 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2003)
Hanna v. City of Chicago
771 N.E.2d 13 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2002)
Gofis v. County of Cook
754 N.E.2d 374 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2001)
Snow v. Villacci
2000 ME 127 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2000)
Bossman v. Village of Riverton
Appellate Court of Illinois, 1997
Littlejohn v. City of North Chicago
631 N.E.2d 358 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1994)
Tim Thompson, Inc. v. Village of Hinsdale
617 N.E.2d 1227 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
578 N.E.2d 57, 217 Ill. App. 3d 1024, 160 Ill. Dec. 878, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1218, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rodriguez-v-henderson-illappct-1991.