The Clarendon Hills Village Board granted final planned unit development plan approval for a condominium development at the southeast corner of Prospect and Park avenues, over objection of Trustee Eric Stach who questioning the legality of the action.
Trustees voted, 4-1 on April 20 for the approval, after first approving an amendment allowing to account for more than a year passing since the preliminary approval was granted. The Clarendon Hills zoning code states the developer must file a “complete request” for final approval within one year of receiving the preliminary approval, or else the planned unit development use becomes null and void. Preliminary approval was granted in October 2013.
Stopping development of the three-story, eight-unit condominium is the focus of a lawsuit against the village and developer Michael Van Zandt, a Clarendon Hills resident. Plaintiffs and residents Sue Hanlon and Phil Altvater contend that the development should have retail space, as originally was required in the zoning.
The original approval included a needed amendment to the village’s comprehensive plan and a special use permit for a planned unit development.
Altvater sent a letter to village officials March 20, claiming the approval should be considered null and void, and Stach made that case at the April 20 Village Board meeting.
“I question if the board has the legal authority to waive the time frame,” said Stach, who lost a bid for village president April 7. “The board does have the authority to grant an extension, but I believe the requirement calls for any extension to have been granted prior to the end of the one-year period. I think that’s a clear limitation.”
The other trustees accepted the opinion of village attorney Tom Bayer, who said it was OK to now grant the extension.
“One year is something procedural you imposed upon yourselves; there’s nothing in the state code with that requirement,” Bayer told the board. “The lawsuit created uncertainty. This is merely waiving the time frame, not because someone was late, but because of an intervening event that caused uncertainty of what the next step would be.”
Even with the final approval, the future of the development remains uncertain, as the lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in July, according to Dan Ungerleider, Clarendon Hills’ director of community development.
Altvater said the attorney representing the plaintiffs filed an amendment in mid-March to include the information about the one-year requirement.
Twitter: @chuckwriting
