[Download] "City of Chicago v. Westphalen" by And Reversed in Part and Remanded Illinois Appellate Court — First District (3Rd Division) Affirmed in Part * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: City of Chicago v. Westphalen
- Author : And Reversed in Part and Remanded Illinois Appellate Court — First District (3Rd Division) Affirmed in Part
- Release Date : January 04, 1981
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 87 KB
Description
The City of Chicago (City) filed a complaint against the defendant, Robert Westphalen, the owner of a parcel of real property improved with a three-story brick structure located in the City of Chicago, alleging numerous municipal code violations at said property. A complaint alleging the same and additional violations was filed by the plaintiffs, Barbara and Eugene Krell, against the defendant pursuant to section 11-13-15 of the Illinois Municipal Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 24, par. 11-13-15) which allows owners of neighboring property to bring suit to enforce municipal building and zoning codes. The City's complaint was dismissed and then reinstated and consolidated with the Krells' suit. After a bench trial the court found the defendant's building contained 69 violations of the Municipal Code of Chicago (Municipal Code), appointed a receiver to bring the building into compliance, fined the defendant $100 for each violation and suspended the fines since the building was vacant and not producing income at the time of judgment. The defendant's brief contains 21 points for appeal which we believe, in the interest of clarity and conciseness, can be combined to create seven main issues. They are: (1) whether the defendant was denied procedural due process when his building permit was revoked without a prior hearing; (2) whether the defendant was granted a lawful nonconforming use by a 1964 Zoning Board of Appeals resolution and, if so, whether this resolution was subject to collateral attack in the present proceeding; (3) whether the defendant's building was subject to a fire regulation pertaining to interior stairway walls; (4) whether the plaintiffs were estopped or barred from bringing the present suit on the basis of collateral estoppel; (5) whether the defendant's trial was unfair because the defendant alleges that the trial judge was prejudiced and abused his discretion; (6) whether the trial judge erred in denying the defendant's motion for summary judgment, and (7) whether the Krells were proper plaintiffs. The Krells have cross-appealed alleging the trial court erroneously denied their post-trial petition for costs and attorneys' fees in accordance with section 11-13-15 of the Illinois Municipal Code. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 24, par. 11-13-15.