Court Opinion

ID: 9723742
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 10:29:39.747825+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:51.464924
License: Public Domain

PRESIDING JUSTICE O’MALLEY, dissenting: I respectfully dissent. I believe plaintiff was entitled to a declaration that a second home could not be built on the lot in question. The majority states that the issue of building a second home on the lot is moot because the Creekmurs stated that they no longer intended to build an additional residence, they had filed a petition to vacate the plat of the subdivision, they had terminated their contract for the sale of the land, their Association building permit was suspended, and they had no sanitary permit. I disagree. While a reviewing court will not hear a case merely to decide moot or abstract issues, mere voluntary cessation of allegedly unlawful conduct cannot moot a case, as a defendant would then be free to resume the practices complained of. Fryzel v. Chicago Title & Trust Co., 173 Ill. App. 3d 788, 794 (1988); see 354 Ill. App. 3d at 1040, citing Beretta U.S.A. Corp., 337 Ill. App. 3d at 22. The only instance in which voluntary cessation can moot a case is where it is absolutely clear that the wrongful behavior could not reasonably be expected to recur. Fryzel, 173 Ill. App. 3d at 794. The facts here do not go so far as to indicate even voluntary cessation; the Association has merely suspended the Creekmurs’ permit to build a second home. Absent a declaration, the history of this case shows that they remain able to pursue building two homes on their lot (or selling the lot for the purpose of placing two homes upon it) at any time they choose. Because the County building permit has not been revoked or suspended, the only obstacles to the Creekmurs renewing their goal of building two homes on the lot are the suspended Association building permit and the lack of a sanitary permit. As discussed below, neither is a significant obstacle, and it is far from absolutely clear that the complained-of actions could not reasonably be expected to recur. Regarding the first obstacle, the suspended Association building permit, there is nothing preventing the Association from lifting the suspension. The Creekmurs’ permit was never rescinded, but merely suspended. The Association has stated only that it will not allow building permits prospectively, it has not declared that it would not go forward with permits already issued in contravention of the restrictive covenants. Therefore, the Association has not committed to rescinding the Creekmurs’ permit. I also note that the Association has already once issued the Creekmurs a permit while fully aware of their plans to build a second home against the limitations of the restrictive covenants, and it has given no indication that it would not do so again by lifting the current suspension. Regarding the second obstacle, the lack of a sanitary permit has not proven a significant obstacle in the past to the Creekmurs’ violation of the restrictive covenants. In fact, the Association originally issued the Creekmurs a building permit for building a second home on their lot in spite of the fact that no sanitary permit had been obtained. The Association later suspended the permit, but, six weeks later, the Creekmurs were still able to reach an agreement with the Williamses to sell their lot as two separate parcels of land, each to contain a single-family home. Nor am I persuaded by the facts that the Creekmurs have terminated their contract for the sale of the land and that they have disavowed their intention to build a second home. The Creekmurs claim to have no interest in building a second home now, but, absent a court declaration, there is nothing to say that they could not later, as they have done in the past, attempt to sell their property as two parcels of land for two houses. There are no real obstacles preventing the Creekmurs from again attempting to build two homes on their lot. Given what transpired in this case and the fact that on more than one other occasion the Association has allowed additional homes to be built on original lots, and given the Association’s current posture that it is only suspending rather than rescinding the Creekmurs’ permit, it is a far cry from absolutely clear that the complained-of activity could not reasonably be expected to recur. As such, I do not believe the issue is moot. I would hold that plaintiff is entitled to a declaration that attempts to build a second home on the lot run afoul of the restrictive covenants.