Court Remands Challenge to Fast Track Demolition to Circuit Court
An Illinois Appellate Court issued an opinion in a case involving a municipality's use of a "fast track" demolition to demolish a a building. JB Distribution Market of SLC v. City of Peoria.
A city filed an action in circuit court under Section 11-31-1(e) of the Illinois Municipal Code to obtain an order authorizing the demolition of a building that the city argued was in an unsafe condition. The circuit court issued the order, and the city hired a contractor to demolish the building. The owner of the building filed a lawsuit asking the court to enjoin the city from demolition activities. The owner argued it was entitled to relief under the statute based on language that entitles an owner to a "stay" of demolition if the owner files a complaint before the municipality proceeds with the demolition activities authorized by the statute. The city argued its contractor had already proceeded with demolition activities, precluding relief under the statute. The circuit court agreed, and ruled in favor of the city and dismissed the complaint.
If, however, before the municipality proceeds with any of the actions authorized by this subsection, any person with a legal or equitable interest in the property has sought a hearing under this subsection before a court and has served a copy of the complaint on the chief executive officer of the municipality, then the municipality shall not proceed with the demolition, repair, enclosure, or removal of garbage, debris, or other substances until the court determines that that action is necessary to remedy the hazard and issues an order authorizing the municipality to do so. 65 ILCS 5/11-31-1(e)
On appeal, the Appellate Court disagreed with the circuit court's ruling, finding that it was not clear whether installation of fencing and asbestos testing was sufficient to start the process of demolition, and sent the case back to the circuit court for further proceedings.
0 comments:
Post a Comment