Nursing Home Had No Standing to Challenge Proposed Development of New Senior Residential Facility
Recently, an Illinois appellate court dismissed a case filed by one senior citizen facility operating in the municipality challenging the municipality's authority to approve a new senior citizen facility. Cedarhurst of Bethalto v. Village of Bethalto, 2018 IL App (5th) 170309.
Cedarhust operates a residential nursing home in the Village of Bethalto. When Unique Homes filed an application with the Village to build a new senior citizen residential facility, Cedarhust sued the Village claiming that it did not have authority to approve Unique Home's facility because the Village's comprehensive plan restricted development near the airport. The case was dismissed by the trial court, and Cedarhurst appealed.
On appeal, Cedarhurst argued that the Village was prohibited from approving or taking any action on Unique Homes' development applications because of the Village's comprehensive plan. The Village argued that the case had been properly dismissed because Cedarhust did not allege any special injury or individualized harm that Cedarhust would suffer if the Village approved the new development. The Village also argued that the comprehensive plan was advisory only, and the Village was under no obligation to implement any part of the plan in considering a development proposal.
The appellate court agreed with the Village, and rejected Cedarhurst's claims. First, the court determined that Cedarhurst had no standing to challenge the Unique Home development proposal because it did not show how it would be directly injured by the development approval. Cedarhurst's nursing home was not near the proposed development, and Cedarhurst would suffer no direct, personal injuries if the Unique Homes' development were approved. Second, the court rejected Cedarhust's request for a court order to mandate that the Village follow its comprehensive plan, finding that the comprehensive plan is advisory only, and under state law"shall not be construed to regulate or control the use of private property in any way." In short, because Cedarhust did not have standing to sue the Village or Unique Homes, the case was properly dismissed.
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