Opinion ID: 2003432
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the cook county suit

Text: On November 17, 1989, one day after the Agency issued the final Planned Unit Development (PUD) permit for the balefill, the City of Elgin, the Village of Bartlett, the Village of South Elgin, the Village of Wayne, and Hanover Township (the plaintiff municipalities) filed a five-count complaint against SWANCC and the Cook County board, seeking to overturn the county board's approval of a special use permit for the balefill. [1] The gravamen of the plaintiff municipalities' complaint is that the balefill ordinance was arbitrary and capricious; the procedures employed in approving the balefill ordinance were deficient; the balefill will cause environmental damage; and the balefill will economically injure the plaintiff municipalities in their corporate capacity. SWANCC moved to strike the allegations of environmental harm on the ground that they constituted an impermissible collateral attack on the Agency's permitting decision. The circuit court of Cook County granted the motion and then, sua sponte, dismissed the entire complaint with prejudice and subsequently refused to allow the filing of an amended complaint. On appeal, the appellate court affirmed the dismissal of counts I, II, IV, V, VI and VII of the plaintiff municipalities' complaint, as well as the trial court's refusal to grant leave to file an amended complaint. (257 Ill.App.3d 186, 195 Ill.Dec. 778, 629 N.E.2d 86.) However, the appellate court reversed the dismissal of count III, which it ruled stated a prima facie case of direct and adverse impact to the corporate capacity of the plaintiff municipalities such that they had standing to challenge the balefill zoning ordinance. 257 Ill.App.3d at 194-97, 195 Ill.Dec. 778, 629 N.E.2d 86. SWANCC appealed the appellate court's count III holding and the plaintiff municipalities sought cross-relief, seeking the reversal of the amended complaint ruling. For the reasons expressed below, we reverse the appellate court's count III holding and affirm its holding that the trial court properly denied leave to file an amended complaint.