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Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Zoning Commission Update on Bleacher Case


As regular readers know, we have posted in the past about the dispute between the Crystal Lake South High School, the City of Crystal Lake, and neighboring residential property owners involving the High School's installation of 50-foot tall bleachers without City zoning approval. The High School's appeal of the appellate court's previous ruling against it is still pending at the Illinois Supreme Court.  

After both the trial and appellate courts ruled against the School, the School did file an application with the City for after-the-fact zoning approvals, including a request for a special use permit and height variations. Last week, the City's planning and zoning commission recommended that the School's zoning applications be denied.  The School's offer to lower the bleachers from 50 feet to 38 feet, and add more landscaping did not appease the commission or the neighbors who showed up at the zoning hearing to express their concerns and objections to the School's application.  

The planning and zoning commission's recommendation to deny the zoning application will now go to the City Council for final action in May.

As a side note regarding the Supreme Court appeal, the Illinois Municipal League filed an amicus brief in support of the argument that schools are subject to local zoning, which you can read here.

Post Authored by Julie Tappendorf

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