FIRST DIVISION

								April 28, 2003

No. 1-02-1514

SAVE THE PRAIRIE SOCIETY, an Illinois	)	Appeal from the

Not-For-Profit Organization,			)	Circuit Court of

								)	Cook County

		Plaintiff-Appellant,		)

								)

	v.							)				 								)

GREENE DEVELOPMENT GROUP, INC., an 	)

Illinois Corporation, ORCHARD HILL		)

CONSTRUCTION LLC, an Illinois Limited	)

Liability Corporation, FOUNDERS BANK, 	)

as Trustee under Trust Agreement Dated 	)

April 9, 1996, and Known as Trust 		)

No. 5-1180, and STANDARD BANK AND TRUST	)

COMPANY, as Trustee under Trust		)

Agreement Dated March 1, 2001, and 	)

Known as Trust No. 16857,			)	Honorable

								)	Aaron Jaffe,

		Defendants-Appellees		)	Judge Presiding

	PRESIDING JUSTICE McNULTY delivered the opinion of the court:

	This case comes before us for a second time.  Save the

Prairie Society sued to prevent Greene Development Group from

constructing an elaborate development on property Greene owned near a natural prairie.  The trial court denied plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction.  On the initial appeal we reversed the trial court and ordered the court to enter the

preliminary injunction on remand.  The trial court entered the

ordered injunction, but it also ordered plaintiff to post a bond of $200,000.  Plaintiff again appeals.

	We find that the trial court abused its discretion by ordering the large bond from a not-for-profit corporation with

limited resources, where the injunction the corporation sought

served the public interest.  We again reverse the trial court and

order the court to enter the preliminary injunction without bond.

	Founder's Bank, as trustee of a trust for benefit of Greene,

owns a 5-acre lot in a 60-acre residential community.  All 12 of

the lots in the community are about 5 acres, and no property has

more than one principal building.  When Greene acquired the lot,

all 12 lots had a single-family residence.  The deeds for the 12

lots all forbid construction of any principal building other than

a residence.

	Greene sought to construct a development of 5 buildings,

including 4 buildings with 32 residential units in each building. 

Plaintiff, which owned another lot in the community, sued to enforce the restrictive covenant.  Plaintiff also moved for a preliminary injunction, without bond, to preserve the status quo

pending determination of the suit to enforce the covenant.  

	At the hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction

plaintiff presented evidence that the residential community bordered a nature preserve consisting of 80 acres of prairie,

wetland and savanna.  The general superintendent of the Cook

County Forest Preserve District described the nature preserve as

"a unique natural area with national and international ecological

value."  He added that savanna, like that in the nature preserve,

is "critically imperiled globally."  The low-density residential community of 60 acres "provides critical buffer for and helps to

protect" the nature preserve.  In the interest of shielding the

nature preserve, the Forest Preserve District preferred to see no

major development of the residential community.

	Following testimony concerning the character of the

residential area, plaintiff recognized the need for further testimony in support of the request for waiver of bond.  Plaintiff's attorney said:

		"In the interest of time, we would suggest that we

postpone that testimony to a point in time if and when

it's necessary."

	The court and Greene agreed to let plaintiff reserve the right to present evidence concerning the bond later.  The issue

of the amount of the bond did not arise in the initial hearing

because the court denied the motion for a preliminary injunction.

	On the first appeal this court addressed only the issue of

whether the trial court erred by denying the motion for a

preliminary injunction.  The parties did not address the

possibility of a bond, and the record did not include evidence

pertinent to the request for waiver of bond.

	On remand plaintiff amended its complaint to add allegations that Greene bought a second lot in the residential community and

demolished residences on both of the lots.  Founder's Bank, as

trustee, held legal title to the first lot, and Standard Bank &

Trust, also as trustee, held legal title to the second lot.  Greene then transferred its beneficial interests in both trusts

to Orchard Hill Construction.  Plaintiff sought leave to add Orchard Hill and Standard Bank as new defendants.  Plaintiff also renewed the request for an injunction, this time to prevent

development of both of the lots Orchard Hill owned.

	Greene asked the court to establish a bond for the

injunction.  In the motion Greene asserted, without citation to

any evidence, that the delay due to the preliminary injunction

would jeopardize the proposed development even if the court

found, at trial, that plaintiff had no right to enforce the restrictive covenant.  Greene also asserted, without citation to

evidence, that it intended to spend $21 million on the proposed

development.  Greene did not indicate the price it paid for the

properties or the value it would lose if the court imposed the

preliminary injunction but decided after trial to permit the

developments.  Instead, Greene requested a bond of $21 million,

without explaining how an injunction preventing it from spending

$21 million for the duration of the trial could cause it any

loss, let alone a loss of $21 million.

	Greene supported its request with evidence of plaintiff's ability to pay.  Plaintiff's tax return for the year ending June 30, 1999, showed net assets worth more than $750,000, but land

accounted for more than $680,000 of those assets.  For that tax

year plaintiff received total revenues of $58,000, mostly from charitable donations, covering total expenses of almost $56,000, for a net income of $2,094.  Greene also submitted a realtor's

report estimating the value of plaintiff's property in the residential community at $550,000.

	In opposition to the motion for bond, plaintiff submitted an affidavit from the Director of the Illinois Department of Natural

Resources Office of Realty and Environmental Planning, who echoed

the testimony from the hearing about the character of the nature

preserve and the need for the low-density residential area as a

buffer.  He added that plaintiff served the public interest by assisting the Department in its efforts to restore and protect

the nature preserve.  Plaintiff also presented a budget for the year ending June 30, 2002.  Plaintiff anticipated income of $63,500 and expenses of $63,300.

	The trial court held:

		"First, on its face, this is not a case where the

bond requirement should be waived.  Due to the

injunction, the Defendants are being enjoined from commencing construction on certain real estate to which

[they] hold[] legal title.  Second, the fact that

[plaintiff] alleges that it is a small non-for-profit entity with limited financial resources is not a

legitimate basis for waiving bond.  Third, and perhaps

most compelling, is the fact that the Appellate Court

did not expressly order that bond should be waived. 

Upon entry of a preliminary injunction, a fundamental condition to its issuance is the posting of a bond. 

Thus, if the Appellate Court intended that the bond

requirement should be waived in this scenario, it seems

that it would have directed that instruction in the

mandate.  And, the Appellate Court did not.

		***

		Accordingly, the Plaintiff['s] *** Motion for Preliminary Injunction is GRANTED, and in accordance

with said injunction, [plaintiff] is ordered to post a bond in the amount of $200,000."

	DISCUSSION

	Section 11-103 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides:

		"The court in its discretion, may before entering

a restraining order or a preliminary injunction,

require the applicant to give bond in such sum, upon

such condition and with such security as may be deemed

proper by the court, for the payment of such costs and

damages as may be incurred or suffered by any party who

is found to have been wrongfully enjoined or

restrained."  735 ILCS 5/11-103 (West 2000).

This court gives the trial court discretion to determine whether

to require a bond from the party seeking a preliminary

injunction.  Gold v. Ziff Communications Co., 196 Ill. App. 3d 425, 436 (1989).  The trial court abuses its discretion when it

applies improper legal standards or ignores recognized principles of law.  Zavell & Associates, Inc. v. CCA Industries, Inc., 257 Ill. App. 3d 319, 332 (1993); Roberts v. Illinois Power Co., 311 Ill. App. 3d 458, 461 (2000).

	The trial court here ignored several legal principles in

ruling on the bond.  First, a "judicial opinion is *** authority

only for what is actually decided." In re D.S., 313 Ill. App. 3d 1020, 1026 (2000).  When a court expressly reserves an issue, its

decision cannot be considered a resolution of the reserved issue. 

Citicorp Savings of Illinois v. Rucker, 295 Ill. App. 3d 801, 805-06 (1998).

	At the hearing on the motion for a preliminary injunction,

plaintiff, with the express consent of defendants and the trial court, reserved the right to present evidence on the issue of

whether to set a bond and the amount of any bond so set. 

Therefore, when the case came before this court on the initial

appeal, the record did not include plaintiff's evidence on the issue, and the trial court had made no ruling concerning the

bond.  The record on the initial appeal, and the briefs on that

appeal, presented no basis for this court to offer any opinion on

the issue of whether to impose a bond.  This court, on the first

appeal, lacked jurisdiction to consider the amount of the bond

and whether to set a bond.

	Despite the absence of any basis for this court to address

the issue of a possible bond, the trial court here decided that

the lack of any ruling concerning a bond in this case constituted a compelling reason to order a bond of more than 3 times

plaintiff's total annual revenues, and about 100 times plaintiff's annual net income.  Our decision necessarily had no bearing on the need for a bond, as the parties could not address

that issue on the record presented to this court on the first

appeal – a record in which the trial court expressly agreed to reservation of the issue of whether to impose a bond.

	The trial court also ignored recognized legal principles in

the other reasons it gave for rejecting plaintiff's arguments.  A party's limited financial resources can provide good cause for

requiring no bond.  Mitchell v. Mitchell, 10 Ill. App. 2d 437, 444 (1956); Gold, 196 Ill. App. 3d at 436.  Plaintiff's status as a not-for-profit corporation may warrant waiver of the bond

requirement (Sunset Hills Homeowners Ass'n v. Karel, 39 Ill. App. 2d 477, 486 (1963)), especially where the corporation serves the

public interest (Town of Cicero v. Weilander, 35 Ill. App. 2d 456, 470-71 (1962)).  Here, plaintiff's work to conserve our natural resources serves the public interest.  See 415 ILCS 5/2

(West 2000).

	A federal rule, like section 11-103 of the Code of Civil

Procedure, permits courts to enter injunctions with no bond, or

with only nominal bond.  Scherr v. Volpe, 466 F.2d 1027, 1035 (7th Cir. 1972).  The federal courts have articulated appropriate

factors, consistent with Illinois law, for the court to consider

in determining whether to impose a bond.  In Crowley v. Local No. 82, 679 F.2d 978, 1000 (1st Cir. 1982), rev'd on other grounds, 4467 U.S. 526, 81 L. Ed. 2d 457, 104 S. Ct. 2557 (1984), the court said:

	"[C]ases are *** in some conflict as to the effect of

failure to require a bond. *** [In one line of cases,

w]here the injunction is otherwise upheld, the case has

been remanded solely for reconsideration of the bond

requirement. [Citation.]  In the second line, no bond is required in suits to enforce important federal

rights or 'public interests.' [Citations.]  The rights prosecuted in these cases arose out of comprehensive

federal health and welfare statutes ***. Moreover, some

of these cases involved indigent plaintiffs, from whom

it would be unjust to require security. [Citations.] 

		These cases suggest to us that a district court

should take into account the following factors in

deciding whether to require a bond.  First, at least in noncommercial cases, the court should consider the possible loss to the enjoined party together with the

hardship that a bond requirement would impose on the

applicant.  Applicants in commercial cases --

merchants, manufacturers, and others -- can be assumed

capable of bearing most bond requirements, so hardship

to them is less of a factor. Second, in order not to

restrict a federal right unduly, the impact that a bond requirement would have on enforcement of the right

should also be considered."

See Temple University v. White, 941 F.2d 201, 219 n. 26 (3d Cir. 1991) (adopting Crowley factors).  Also, the "court may dispense with security where there has been no proof of likelihood of harm

to the party enjoined."  International Controls Corp. v. Vesco, 490 F.2d 1334, 1356 (2d Cir. 1974).  A federal court applying these factors has refused to impose bond on a non-profit

environmental protection organization that sought an injunction

to restrict development of lakefront properties.  People of the State of California ex rel. Van de Kamp v. Tahoe Regional

Planning Agency, 766 F.2d 1319, 1325-26 (9th Cir. 1985).

	Like the court in Tahoe, we find that the factors weigh heavily in favor of imposing no bond here.  First, the injunction

serves the public interest in protecting our vanishing savannas

and prairies.  The hardship on plaintiff of the excessive bond here is great, as it amounts to more than one-fourth of all of

plaintiff's assets, and about as much income as the organization could hope to net in a century.  The bond requirement certainly

would severely diminish plaintiff's ability to protect the public interest.  Finally, Greene cites no evidence that it will suffer

any loss due to this preliminary injunction.  If a trial on the

merits shows that Greene has no right to develop this property,

the injunction will have saved Greene the cost of remedying its

unjustified expenditures on development.  If the court, after a trial, determines that Greene has the right to develop the

property, Greene will have lost only the time needed for the

trial.  While Greene will need to wait to realize its projected

profits, the record presents no reason to believe that the

profits will not increase sufficiently to compensate it for the

delay.

	In our prior opinion we made no mention of any possible bond

because the record and arguments before us presented no basis for

offering an opinion on the bond.  The trial court improperly

relied on the lack of discussion of bond as grounds for imposing

one.  The court also ignored precedent that established that the

public interest and the plaintiff's limited financial resources constitute grounds for granting the injunction without bond.  In

view of the public interest, the plaintiff's lack of financial resources, and the lack of evidence of any loss to defendants from a temporary injunction for the duration of trial, we find

that the trial court abused its discretion by imposing a bond of

$200,000.  We reverse the decision of the trial court and remand

with instructions to eliminate the bond requirement from the

order for a preliminary injunction.

	Reversed and remanded with directions.

	O"'MALLEY and SMITH, JJ., concur.