No Standing to Challenge County Approval of Rodeos
A county was sued by an individual and two animal rights groups challenging the county's approval of temporary use permits for rodeos. Specifically, the plaintiffs had filed appeals with the county zoning board of appeals which they argued the county did not allow to proceed or canceled as moot. The trial court dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the plaintiffs were not "aggrieved" by the county's approval of the temporary use permits for the rodeos in order to satisfy the standing requirement to appeal the county's decisions.
The case was appealed, and the Illinois Appellate Court upheld the dismissal. Specifically, the court held that to be "aggrieved" to appeal the county's decision, a plaintiff needed to be more than curious or concerned about the outcome and instead needed to possess a personal claim, status, or right and a distinct injury that can be fairly traced to the defendant's conduct. In this case, the Court rejected the individual plaintiff's argument that he had standing because he suffered an "aesthetic injury," finding that an aesthetic injury alone is not sufficient to satisfy standing. The Court also rejected the organizations' argument that they had associational standing for the same reason. Finally, the Court rejected organizational standing because plaintiffs did not establish that the county impaired the organizations' services or daily operations.
Because none of the plaintiffs could establish they were "aggrieved" by the county's approval of the temporary use permits for the rodeos, they did not have standing and the Appellate Court held that the case was properly dismissed. Humane Farming Ass'n et al., v. Boone County Board, et al.
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