Krom v. City of Elmhurst

• Decision Date: 22 March 1956
• Docket Number: No. 33617,33617
• Citation: 8 Ill.2d 104,133 N.E.2d 1
• Parties: S. H. KROM et al., Appellees, v. The CITY OF ELMHURST, Appellant.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Page 1

133 N.E.2d 1

8 Ill.2d 104

S. H. KROM et al., Appellees, v. The CITY OF ELMHURST, Appellant.

No. 33617.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

March 22, 1956.

George E. Billett, Chicago (Ervin F. Wilson, Chicago, of counsel), for appellant.

Rathje & Woodward, Wheaton (Alfred E. Woodward, Wheaton, of counsel), for appellees.

DAILY, Justice.

The city of Elmhurst here appeals from a judgment of the circuit court of Du Page County holding the city zoning ordinance, as amended, unconstitutional and void in its application to a parcel of land owned by Chicago Title and Trust Company, as trustee, and for which S. H. Krom, who is an appellee here along with the company, has entered into a contract of purchase.

The disputed property, consisting of 3.35 acres, is located very near the southern limit of the city. It is bounded on the south by Butterfield Road for a distance of 275.5 feet, on the southeast for 259 feet by a triangular lot improved with a gasoline station, on the east by York Street for 273 feet, on the north by Van Buren Street for 246 feet, and on the west by Kendall Avenue for a distance of 551 feet. Plats in the record show that appellees' tract and the triangular lot from which the gasoline station is operated consists of an entire block lying within the boundaries of the streets named. The block is vacant except for the gasoline station and it was the opinion of a witness that the vacant portion owned by appellees could be divided into 18 or 20 residence lots. Butterfield Road is a heavily traveled east-west traffic artery which connects the city of Chicago with the Fox River valley and over which passes Illinois Route 56. York Street, which is improved with a two-lane black-top road in the area, is the main northsouth street bisecting the city of Elmhurst and connects with the main business district some two and a half miles to the north. The intersection of Butterfield and York is a busy one and traffic is controlled by four-way stop signs. Kendall Avenue is but a block long and, like Van Buren Street, has no improved road where it adjoins appellees' land.

By a zoning ordinance enacted in 1924, the triangular lot where the gasoline station is presently located was given a commercial zoning classification which continues to this day. The balance of the block, however, was zoned residential. In 1951 the ordinance was amended to change the classification of the vacant property in the block to 'A-single-family residence,' the most highly restricted of all the zoning classifications employed. During March, 1954, Krom, as vendee under a contract to purchase the vacant portion of the block, made application to the city to rezone the property to a commercial classification, his intention being to erect a shopping center and accompanying parking facilities thereon. The application was denied by the zoning commission and such denial was concurred in by the city council. This action for a declaratory judgment followed with appellees' alleging, and the trial court holding, that the amended ordinance, as it applied to their property, bore no relation to the public health, safety, morals or welfare, and that it was an arbitrary and unreasonable regulation which deprived appellees of their property without due process of law. On this appeal the city contends to the contrary and insists that its legislative judgment should not be disturbed.

The question of whether a zoning ordinance is arbitrary, unreasonable and capricious in its application to a given parcel of land, or whether it is reasonable and bears a substantial relation to the public welfare, is subject to review by the courts and, of necessity, each case must be decided upon its own particular facts. Chief among the factors to be given consideration are the use and zoning of nearby property, the character of the neighborhood, the extent property values are diminished, and the relative gain to the public as compared to the hardship imposed upon the owner. Since there is a presumption of validity in favor of a zoning ordinance adopted pursuant to a legislative grant, the one assailing its validity has the burden of proof that the ordinance is invalid or unreasonable and confiscatory as to his property. If it appears from all the facts that there is room for a difference of opinion concerning the reasonableness of a classification, the legislative judgment of the city council must be conclusive. For further exposition of these established principles see: La Salle National Bank of Chicago v. City of Chicago, 5 Ill.2d 344, 125 N.E.2d 609; Tower Cabana Club, Inc., v. City of Chicago, 5 Ill.2d 11, 123 N.E.2d 834; La Salle National Bank v. City of Chicago, 4 Ill.2d 253, 122 N.E.2d 519; Herzog Building Corp. v. City of Des Plaines, 3 Ill.2d 206, 119 N.E.2d 732; Miller Brothers Lumber Co. v. City of Chicago, 414 Ill. 162, 111 N.E.2d 149.

The facts peculiar to the case at hand disclose that the disputed tract of land is, generally speaking, located adjacent to a commercial district which has been formed around the intersection of Butterfield Road and York Street in an area which, for a radius of approximately three fourths of a mile from the intersection, is otherwise zoned or used for residential purposes. The lots at the four corners of the intersection lie in commercial zones which, with the exception of the zone comprising the triangular lot adjoining appellees' property, extend in all four directions and on both sides of the streets from the intersection. Thus on Butterfield and York, respectively, the lands directly across from the disputed tract are zoned commercial for distances of approximately one block; on York south of Butterfield and on Butterfield east of York, the commercial zoning extends for 166 feet and 300 feet, respectively. The zoning to the west and north of appellees' property, across Kendall and Van Buren, is for single-family residences. Likewise, the areas adjacent to the commercial zones described are classified as residential both by city and county zoning regulations as they apply.

As previously stated there is a gasoline station on the triangular lot at the northwest corner of Butterfield and York. Appellees' land adjoins the triangle at its base and flanks it at the points where the sides of the triangle join the base. On the northeast corner of the intersection there is located a second gasoline station. To the north of this station there is located on the east side of York, and thus directly across from appellees' property, the following: a combination residence and television repair business, four residences, a combination residence and barber shop, and a combination residence and real-estate office. To the east of the same station, along the north side of Butterfield, there is a two-story building having an apartment upstairs and a carry-out food service on the first floor, an electric transformer station, and two residences. Still a third gasoline station is located on the southeast corner of the intersection and we gather from the testimony and photographic evidence that there are no other structures in the immediate vicinity. The fourth or southwest corner of the intersection is improved with a drive-in hamburger and ice cream stand. Immediately south of the stand, along the west side of York, is found a grocery store and meat market, and a real-estate office; to the west, along the south side of Butterfield and directly across from appellees' property, there is located a combination grocery and liquor store and a parking lot for the customers of that business.

The lots which face appellees' land from across Kendall and Van Buren are vacant with the exception of a residence located at the northwest corner of Van Buren and York, which fronts on York. Kendall is but a block long and, just as Van Buren, has neither improved road, water, nor sewer. In regard to this condition, it was brought out at the hearing that the city has an ordinance prohibiting the erection of a building for human habitation on any lot or parcel within the city 'unless highway, road, street or way for public service facilities, improved with water mains and sanitary sewers is provided to serve said lot or parcel of land.' From a land use map in evidence it appears that the areas to the north and west of appellees' property are largely vacant and unimproved except for scattered residences and one concentration of residences about nine blocks west. The undeveloped condition of the area was attributed by several witnesses to the lack of water and sewer therein. To the east and north of appellees' tract there is, with the exception of the commercial properties already described, almost complete residential development over an area 14 blocks square. To the south, across Butterfield, there is again but scattered residences both in the small area of the city that is found there and in the unincorporated area adjoining.

Three real-estate brokers testifying for appellees valued the latters' property at $95,000 to $107,000 for commercial purposes, and at $25,000 to $30,000 for single family residence...