Court Opinion

ID: 9884322
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 02:52:45.061024+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:37.624423
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice House, dissenting: The validity of special use procedure has again been upheld by the majority in this case and in Ward v. Village of Skokie, ante, p. 415. The only difference between the two cases is that in the Ward case motels were not a permitted use in any zoning district except by special permit, while here trailer parks are a permitted use in a “B-4” (commercial) district, but only by special permit. For the reasons stated in Mr. Justice Klingbiel’s special concurrence in the Ward case (in which I have joined) and my dissent in Kotrich v. County of Du Page, 19 Ill.2d 181, I urge the court to fully re-examine this question and strike down special use technique unless, or until, it is given legislative sanction and proper standards are fixed for its application. While we are naturally reluctant to overturn precedent, we should not hesitate to do so where a position previously taken is untenable. In my opinion the Kotrich case and Hartung v. Village of Skokie, 22 Ill.2d 485, fall within that category. Undoubtedly, the very uniqueness of the use (a private recreation center for neighboring families) presented in Kotrich prompted the adoption of the majority opinion without giving sufficient thought to its implications and overtones. The full impact of the attendant evils of special use procedure now appears when ordinances apply the technique to such usual businesses as a motel (Ward case) and restaurant (Hartung case), and a trailer park in this case. The door is gradually being opened to ad hoc determinations which may well destroy the very vitals of zoning. By blindly following these cases we only compound the error. Nor should we be impressed by the fact that a large number of municipalities have included special use procedures in their ordinances. They adopted them in the face of a total absence of statutory authority and without guidés or rules for the granting of special use. They did so at their own'peril. Mr. Justice Klingbiel joins in this dissent.