Ancel Glink's Winter Issue of "In the Zone" Just Released (Controversial Land Uses)

Ancel Glink's Winter Issue of "In the Zone" Just Released (Controversial Land Uses)

  Wednesday, December 07, 2011    Julie Tappendorf

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Check out the winter issue of Ancel Glink's e-newsletter, In the Zone:  Current Trends in Land Use Law, for updates on land use and economic development topics.  This edition focuses on "controversial land uses" including municipal regulation of landfills, billboards, cellular facilities, and agricultural uses.  

Here are a few teasers of articles you can find in this issue:

Municipal Regulation of Billboards, Landfills, and Horses Upheld by Illinois Courts

This article compares three recent Illinois cases that considered challenges to municipal regulation of various controversial land uses, including billboards, landfills, and agricultural uses. 

In our first case, the court upheld a municipal zoning decision resulting in the removal of a billboard - a common eyesore that many local governments desire to eliminate.

An even more onerous land use - a landfill - is the subject of our second case.  The court in this case considers what constitutes a fundamentally fair landfill siting hearing, a procedural due process concept that can also be applied to traditional zoning hearings.

Our third case reminds municipalities of the importance of carefully defining controversial land uses in local zoning ordinances - here, agricultural uses and the boarding of horses.

Cellular Antennas, Shot Clocks and Zoning:  Two Years Later

We also discuss another controversial land use that might create the biggest paradox in a community - the erection of cellular towers; no one wants one nearby, but no one is willing to put down their phone.  This article summarizes how courts have reviewed cellular zoning decisions in light of the FCC's latest administrative order adopting "shot clock regulations" to place time limits on a municipality's review and consideration of a cellular tower application.

Tax Relief for CME, CBOE, Sears Meets Stunning Defeat in Illinois House

Perhaps, the biggest thing to happen during the recent veto session of the Illinois General Assembly is what did not happen, as a tax package designed to keep several high-profile firms in Illinois earned only eight votes in the Illinois House, after passing out of the Senate with a veto-proof majority.  CME, CBOE and Sears are each seeking millions of dollars in tax relief before a tax increase kicks in next July.  Observers expect that this will not be the end of the tax relief effort, and the legislature may take action on a new plan as early as Monday, December 12th.