Opinion ID: 486424
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Allison Case

Text: 2 On May 7, 1980, the plaintiffs filed a petition with the Plan Commission of the City of Kankakee to rezone certain properties in the city from single-family residence to multi-family residence. The Plan Commission held public hearings and voted unanimously to deny the plaintiffs' petitions because of (1) uncertainty of participation by title owners; (2) density of population; and (3) the need of variances. Later, the Kankakee City Council voted to concur in the Plan Commission's recommendation to deny plaintiffs' petitions. 3 On September 16, 1980, the City adopted a Planned Unit Residential Development Ordinance (PURD Ordinance) to authorize the construction of planned unit residential developments. The PURD Ordinance required that: (1) a developer first apply with the City for tentative approval of his plan; (2) that a public hearing be held at which time the Plan Commission would recommend tentative approval or denial of the proposal; and (3) that upon approval by the City Council, the developer apply for final approval. The Plan Commission designated four areas in the city available for such development. 4 On February 24, 1981, pursuant to the PURD Ordinance, the plaintiffs submitted two site plans to the Kankakee City Council for tentative approval. The City Council referred them to the City Plan Commission. The plaintiffs' PURD proposals are called the Allison Housing Complex. The first proposal, Plan C, provides for the development of 72 two-bedroom units accompanied by 208 parking spaces. Plaintiffs' other proposal, the Alternate site plan, provides for 68 two-bedroom units accompanied by 108 parking spaces to be built on the same parcels of land. 5 After receiving the two proposed site plans, the City Planner, Thomas Palzer, asked for and received input from various city department officials. The Plan Commission held a hearing and subsequently recommended to deny tentative approval for plaintiffs' housing project because plaintiffs' proposals were inconsistent with the City's Comprehensive Plan and the City's Housing Assistance Plan. Additionally, the Plan Commission rejected plaintiffs' proposals because each called for a high density project which would result in overcrowding. Finally, the Plan Commission rejected plaintiffs' proposals because they did not meet the parking requirements. On April 20, 1981, the Kankakee City Council denied tentative approval of both site plans. Plaintiffs subsequently brought suit against the City and KCHA. The KCHA, however, is not a party to the Allison case. The district court consolidated the Allison case with the Section 8 case. The Section 8 Case 6 On June 15, 1980, the County Housing Authority initiated a Section 8 Mandate Rehabilitation Housing Program. It advertised that it would accept proposals for appropriately--located housing units to be rehabilitated and then rented under the Section 8 program. The Section 8 program is a funding program whereby the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) enters into a written agreement with a Public Housing Authority (PHA) to provide annual contributions for housing assistance payments and certain other expenses. The County Housing Authority was the PHA administering the Section 8 program in Kankakee county. Plaintiffs submitted their applications in June, 1980 and entered into a final Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) contract in April 1984.