Opinion ID: 795990
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Involuntary Annexation and the Public Assembly Ordinance

Text: 11 In May 2001, while Vision's application for annexation still was pending with the Plan Commission, a local developer, Joseph Valenti, also applied for voluntary annexation of his land. Valenti owns 120 acres of land adjacent to Vision's property; like Vision, Valenti wanted his land to be within the Village's corporate boundaries. He further requested that, upon annexation, the Village rezone his land Residential. The Plan Commission recommended approval of Valenti's application on September 4, 2001. 4 The Board accepted this recommendation on October 9, 2001. 12 As a result of the annexation of Valenti's property, Vision's land was surrounded on all sides by property within the Village's corporate boundaries. Under 65 ILCS 5/7-1-13, the Village therefore had the authority to involuntarily annex Vision's property without regard to the conditions of annexation previously set by Vision. See 65 ILCS 5/7-1-13 (Whenever any unincorporated territory containing 60 acres or less, is wholly bounded by [] one or more municipalities ... that territory may be annexed by any municipality by which it is bounded in whole or in part, by the passage of an ordinance to that effect after notice is given as provided in this Section.). On October 23, 2001, the Village passed an ordinance annexing Vision's property. See An Ordinance Annexing the Surrounded Property at the Southwest Corner of Gilmer and North Krueger Roads, R.1-1, Ex.D at 1-2 (noting that because the unincorporated territory [owned by Vision] is contiguous to and totally surrounded by the Village of Long Grove, with proper notice, it may be annexed under 65 ILCS 5/7-1-13). The Village zoned the property R2 Residential, the zoning classification sought by Vision in its June 2000 application for annexation. 5 13 In November 2001, the Manager of the Village of Long Grove, Cal Doughty, introduced an amendment to the Village's Zoning Regulations, entitled, An Ordinance Amending the Village Code Regarding Public Assemblies (the Assembly Ordinance). The Ordinance restricts the size and capacity of buildings used for public assembly, such as religious institutions, aquariums, libraries, museums, private schools, and other similar uses, R.1-1, Ex.F at 1. 6 Specifically, it provides that a complex comprised of three buildings located on fifteen or more acres, but not fronting a state highway, cannot exceed a total square footage of 55,000. 7 It also imposes restrictions on parking, setbacks from the road and the flow of traffic. According to the Village Planning and Development Committee, the Ordinance is designed to preserve the status of the Village as a low density, residential community, as desired by its residents, and to thwart the development of buildings that defeat the very purpose of the scenic corridor. R.100, Ex.47 at 1-2. The Board enacted the Assembly Ordinance on April 9, 2002; it was incorporated as section 5-11-6.1 of the Zoning Regulations. 14