Court Opinion

ID: 9860923
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 23:36:52.741859+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:26:54.381399
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE JIGANTI, dissenting: The complaint is bottomed on the notion that the sine qua non for the IHDA to make a loan is that the development house persons of “varied economic means.” That notion emanates principally from the legislative finding and declaration contained in section 3 of the Act. I believe that phrase should be read in a context of being exhortatory and not mandatory. The Act reads: “It is hereby found and declared that as a result of public actions involving highways, public facilities and urban renewal projects and as a result of the spread of slum conditions and blight to formerly sound neighborhoods and as a result of high costs of heating dwelling units, and as a result of the shortage of and high cost of financing for housing, there exists within Illinois a serious shortage, of decent, safe, and sanitary housing available at low and moderate rentals to persons and families of low and moderate income. This shortage is inimical to the safety, health, morals and welfare of the residents of this State and the sound growth of its communities. Private enterprise and investment, without the assistance contemplated in this Act, is not disposed to nor can it economically achieve the needed construction of decent, safe and sanitary housing at rentals which persons and families of low and moderate income can afford, nor is it disposed nor can it so achieve the urgently needed rehabilitation of existing housing or the provision of existing housing to those persons and families at those rentals. It is therefore, imperative that the cost of mortgage financing, a major factor materially affecting rental levels in housing built by private enterprise, be made lower in order to reduce rental levels for low and moderate income persons and families; that the supply of housing for persons and families displaced by public action or natural disaster be increased; and that private enterprise be encouraged to acquire, build and rehabilitate housing which will help prevent the recurrence of slum conditions and assist in their permanent elimination by housing persons of varied economic means in the same structures and neighborhoods. It is further found and declared that the serious shortage of decent, safe and sanitary housing in the State of Illinois is in large measure caused by recurring critical shortages of funds in private lending institutions available for residential mortgages at reasonable interest rates. These shortages have contributed to serious reductions in construction starts of new residential units and in rehabilitation of existing housing. The unaided operations of private enterprise have not met and cannot consistently meet the need for increased funds for residential mortgage financing. It is further found and declared that urban growth in this State is not taking place in an efficient and well-planned manner. Many existing and planned industrial and commercial facilities are not easily accessible to the places of residence of substantial numbers of unemployed persons. The unaided efforts of private enterprise have not met and cannot meet the needs of providing residential dwellings in conjunction with or easily accessible to such industrial and commercial facilities due to problems encountered in assembling suitable building sites, the lack of adequate public services, the unavailability of private capital for development in such areas, and the inability of private enterprise alone to plan, finance and coordinate industrial and commercial development with residential development for persons and families of low and moderate income and with public services and mass transportation facilities. It is further found and declared that the development and provision of decent, safe and sanitary housing available at low and moderate rentals to persons and families of low and moderate income is being adversely affected, in various areas, by the failure of those areas to have adequate commercial facilities to serve the areas in which such housing may be provided under this Act. It is further found and declared that the coordinated development of commercial facilities in conjunction with housing facilities can assist in providing decent, safe and sanitary housing available at low and moderate rentals to persons and families of low and moderate income. Moreover, the provision of housing related commercial facilities will serve to provide employment, which is needed in the State because of the serious and long standing level of unemployment in the State, with the consequential reduction of public revenues and increased costs of public services. It is further found and declared that in the absence of direct governmental subsidies the unaided operations of private enterprise do not provide sufficient resources for residential construction, rehabilitation, rental or purchase, and that support from housing related commercial facilities is one means of stimulating residential construction, rehabilitation, rental and purchase. It is further found and declared that cost-effective construction materials and techniques can significantly reduce normal heating costs, but that the bargaining power of prospective low and moderate income tenants or owners of housing developed under this Act is insufficient to assure the utilization of such materials and techniques, and thus to assure affordable heat to those who are the intended beneficiaries of this Act. It is further found and declared that demolition and conversion of single room occupancy hotels has exacerbated the shortage of affordable housing for low-income persons. Based upon the above findings and declarations it is therefore determined and declared that there exist unacceptable conditions in the State which require the creation of a body politic and corporate with power to issue notes and bonds in order to make loans for the acquisition, construction and rehabilitation of housing, community facilities and housing related commercial facilities, acquire and develop land for large-scale planned developments and new communities and, as a means of encouraging home ownership, make loans to and purchase residential mortgages from private lending institutions.” (Emphasis added.) Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 671/2, par. 303. The essence of the IHDA is to relieve the serious shortage of decent, safe, and sanitary housing available at low and moderate rentals. In order to alleviate that shortage, the Act seeks to encourage private builders not only to provide housing but also to have adequate commercial facilities and provide employment. To read that portion of the statute that refers to varied economic means as a mandatory requirement is to place undue emphasis on only one particular aspect of the Act. The proper focus should be on the clear meaning of the findings and declarations as a whole. In order to relieve the “serious shortage” and to “prevent the recurrence of slum conditions” the IHDA is vested with significant administrative discretion in an exceedingly complex structure. While we are dealing here with a proposition of law and not a fact to which any deference should be given to the trial court, the trial court made an observation that I believe most apt. In its ruling the court said that the IHDA does “not need the court to sit and pass judgment on the wisdom of its judgment calls.” This exercise of judicial restraint by the trial court is directly in line with the recent urging of the Illinois Supreme Court in People v. Roush (1984), 101 Ill. 2d 355, 426 N.E.2d 468, wherein the court stated that where public officials are given discretionary administrative powers, courts are reluctant to control and review an exercise of that power. I would affirm.