McHenry County Defenders v. City of Harvard

SUPREME COURT CASES

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State: Illinois

Court: 2nd District Appellate

Docket No: 2-07-0386 Rel

Case Date: 07/02/2008

Preview:No. 2--07--0386 Filed: 7-2-08 ______________________________________________________________________________ IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS SECOND DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________ McHENRY COUNTY DEFENDERS, INC., and SUSAN HAYDEN, ) Appeal from the Circuit Court ) of McHenry County. ) Plaintiffs-Appellants and Cross) Appellees, ) ) v. ) No. 05--MR--109 ) THE CITY OF HARVARD, CHUCK ) MARZAHL, PHIL ULMER, JOEL BERG, ) SCOTT DIKUN, SCOTT LOGAN, ) DARRELL PERKINS, TOM HAY, ) JAY NOLAN, BRIAN LEYDEN, DEBRA ) SZCZAP, and RICK ADAMS, ) ) Honorable Defendants-Appellees and Cross) Maureen P. McIntyre, Appellants. ) Judge, Presiding. _____________________________________________________________________________ JUSTICE BOWMAN delivered the opinion of the court: Plaintiffs, McHenry County Defenders, Inc., and Susan Hayden, brought an action under section 17 of the Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act (Preservation Act) (525 ILCS 30/17 (West 2004)) and section 11(b) of the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Act (Endangered Species Act) (520 ILCS 10/11(b) (West 2004)) (collectively Acts), seeking to require the City of Harvard (City) and its elected officials (collectively defendants) to engage in environmental consultations with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). Plaintiffs alleged that the Acts required defendants to engage in such consultations before passing ordinances allowing Meyer Material

No. 2--07--0386 (Meyer) to proceed with a proposed gravel pit and mining operation on several hundred acres of land that the City agreed to annex. The trial court granted summary judgment for plaintiffs, ruling that defendants had violated the relevant statutes by failing to consult with the IDNR before passing ordinances regarding the gravel mining operation. The trial court ordered defendants to consult with the IDNR. However, the trial court had also previously granted defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiffs' request to declare the relevant ordinances void. It had further denied plaintiffs' motion for leave to amend their complaint to request that the City be ordered to pass an ordinance nullifying the previous ordinances. Plaintiffs seek such relief on appeal. Defendants have filed a cross-appeal in which they argue that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment for plaintiffs, because the gravel mining operation was not funded, carried out, or authorized by the City, as required by the Acts, and because the consultation process was completed in both 2001 and 2005. We affirm. I. BACKGROUND Plaintiff McHenry County Defenders, Inc., is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to environmental preservation. Plaintiff Susan Hayden is a City resident who lives about one quarter of a mile south of the subject property. The City is located in McHenry County. When this case originated, defendant Jay Nolan was the City's mayor and defendants Chuck Marzahl, Phil Ulmer, Joel Berg, Scott Dikun, Scott Logan, Darrell Perkins, and Tom Hay were City aldermen. During the pendency of the case, Brian Leyden, Debra Szczap, and Rick Adams were elected City aldermen and added as defendants. The subject site is located at 8605, 8521, and 9106 Lawrence Road and consists of about 792 acres. Before annexation, the property was located in unincorporated McHenry County, next to but outside of the City's corporate limits. It was zoned under a McHenry County zoning ordinance as

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No. 2--07--0386 " 'A-1' -- Agricultural" and was used as farmland. The Lawrence Creek flows through the subject property and into the Piscasaw Creek, which is downstream from the property. The Piscasaw Creek area is a Natural Area Inventory Site (Inventory Site) (see 525 ILCS 30/17 (West 2004); 17 Ill. Adm. Code

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