Petterson v. City of Naperville

• Decision Date: 25 September 1956
• Docket Number: No. 33939,33939
• Citation: Petterson v. City of Naperville, 9 Ill.2d 233, 137 N.E.2d 371 (Ill. 1956)
• Parties: Edwin S. PETTERSON et al., Appellees, v. The CITY OF NAPERVILLE, Appellant.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Page 371

137 N.E.2d 371

9 Ill.2d 233

Edwin S. PETTERSON et al., Appellees, v. The CITY OF NAPERVILLE, Appellant.

No. 33939.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Sept. 25, 1956.

William R. Friedrich, Naperville and Frank M. Opeka, Chicago, for appellant.

Leren & Burek, Wheaton (Alexander J. Burek, Wheaton, of counsel), for appellees.

DAVIS, Justice.

The city of Naperville, defendant, appeals from the judgment and decree of the circuit court of Du Page County finding and declaring that its 'Subdivision Control Ordinance,' enacted June 21, 1954, is arbitrary, discriminatory, unreasonable and void, and restraining and enjoining it from enforcing the provisions of the ordinance against the plaintiffs, Edwin S. Petterson and Dorothy Petterson. The trial court has certified that the validity of a municipal ordinance is involved and that the public interest requires direct appeal.

Count 1, of plaintiffs' complaint for a declaratory judgment, alleged that plaintiffs are the owners of a certain tract of land located in the unincorporated area of Du Page County and adjoining the corporate limits of the city of Naperville; that the county of Du Page had by resolution adopted rules and regulations concerning plats of subdivisions, dedications and vacations as shown in the exhibit attached to the complaint; that plaintiffs platted their property for subdivision purposes and submitted the plat, together with its statements of improvements, to the county board of Du Page County which approved the plat; that the city of Naperville had, pursuant to the provisions of article 53 of the Revised Cities and Villages Act of the State of Illinois (Ill.Rev.Stat.1945, chap. 24, pars. 53-1, 52-2, 53-3) passed ordinance number A-183 on March 3, 1947, which was entitled 'Creating a Plan Commission' and had also passed, pursuant to the same statutory authority, ordinance number A-241 entitled 'Subdivision Control Ordinance' on June 21, 1954; that the provisions of ordinance A-241 made no distinction between properties located within the corporate limits and those in areas within one and one-half miles outside said limits; that said subdivision control ordinance required additional improvements and made requirements different from those of the county of Du Page; that said ordinance was void as being beyond the power and jurisdiction of the city of Naperville; and prayed that the court so find and declare. In count 2 of their complaint, which seeks injunctive relief, plaintiffs realleged the facts concerning the passage of the ordinances and the submission of their plat to the county authorities and further stated that they submitted their plat to the plan commission of the city of Naperville; that the commission had approved the plat, except that it had required the installation of curbs and gutters along the proposed streets of the subdivision; that this requirement was unnecessary under the circumstances and created an unreasonable burden upon the plaintiffs at a great cost to them and without any relationship to the public health, safety, morals, comfort and general welfare; and that the ordinance constitutes an arbitrary discrimination against the plaintiffs and was void as applied to their property.

In answer to count 1 of the complaint, the defendant denied the allegations thereof, except those pertaining to the ownership of the property, the existing statutory provisions, and the passage of the ordinances. The answer to count 2 admitted the passage of the ordinances, that proceedings were held before the plan commission and its refusal to give final approval to the plat because of the lack of provision for curbs and gutters, and denied all other allegations.

The special master, to whom the cause was referred to take proofs and report findings, found that the proof failed to show any distinction between the plaintiffs' property and other property controlled by the ordinance, and that the ordinance was reasonable as applied thereto. However, the master recommended that the relief sought by the plaintiffs be granted on the grounds that the ordinance in question constituted an unlawful delegation of legislative authority; that the necessary standards to be followed by the plan commission were not specifically set forth in the ordinance which permitted arbitrary action by the commission, not subject to review by the legislative authority, and that requiring a property owner outside the city limits to install local improvements constituted an illegal discrimination. Both parties to the proceedings filed objections to the master's report, which were denied and allowed to stand as exceptions. The court overruled the defendant's exceptions to the report, and sustained the exceptions of the plaintiffs to the finding that the ordinance was reasonable. By its decree the court declared the ordinance unreasonable and unconstitutional and enjoined the defendant from enforcing any of its provisions as to plaintiffs, and directed the city of Naperville to approve the plat.

The facts of this case are not in dispute. The city of Naperville is situated in Du Page County, approximately twenty miles west of the corporate limits of the city of Chicago, a city of more than 500,000 population. On March 3, 1947, it adopted ordinance number A-183 creating a plan commission pursuant to authority granted by the City Planning Commission Act passed in 1921. (Laws of 1921, p. 260; Ill.Rev.Stat.1945, chap. 24, pars. 53-1, 53-2, 53-3.) This ordinance provided that the commission shall have the power to prepare and recommend to the city council a comprehensive plan of public improvements looking to the present and future development and growth of the city, including reasonable requirements with reference to streets, alleys and public grounds within the corporate limits and within contiguous territory outside of and distant not more than one and one-half miles from such limits. On June 21, 1954, the city adopted ordinance number A-241 entitled, 'Subdivision Control Ordinance,' as part of the official plan of the city. This ordinance contained provisions and regulations governing the subdividing and platting of lands lying within the corporate limits and one and one-half miles beyond, including requirements as to location of streets, their width, surface, and curb and gutter. The ordinance recited that it was adopted for the purpose of the present and future development of the city and for the promotion of the public health, safety, comfort, morals and welfare of persons living within the territory governed.

The plaintiffs, husband and wife, are the owners of a 20-acre tract of land, of which the north line and portions of the south and east lines adjoin the corporate limits of the city. They caused a plat of the proposed subdivision of their land to be prepared, and submitted it, together with topographical and other information, to the county board of Du Page County for approval. The committee of the county board approved the plat. Plaintiffs then submitted their plat to the city council of the city of Naperville, which referred the plat to its plan commission for consideration. The plat, as submitted to the municipal authorities, complied with Du Page County regulations and included bituminous streets, 20 feet in width, without curbs and gutters, and contemplated open ditch drainage facilities. The city plan commission refused to approve the plat unless one of the proposed streets was extended to the west line of the subdivision to provide for possible future extension of the way beyond the proposed subdivision, and unless the width of the bituminous streets was increased to 25 feet, and curb and gutter and suitable storm water drainage facilities were provided. The plaintiffs agreed to the extension of the street in question and to increase the width of the bituminous streets to 25 feet, but refused to comply with the curb and gutter and storm water drainage requirements. The plan commission then refused to approve the tentative plat.

At the hearing before the master the plaintiffs presented testimony to show that the cost of constructing the improvements to meet the city requirements would be considerably greater than the cost of providing open gutters and driveway culverts. The chief engineer of the Du Page County highway department testified that if curbs and gutters were installed, an underground system of drainage in the form of storm sewers would also be necessary, involving a total cost of $19,810; that the culverts necessary under the county requirements would cost only about $880. The engineer, who prepared the plat for plaintiffs, testified that the contour line indicated that surface drainage would flow westward to the Du Page River and away from the city of Naperville. The plaintiffs also offered testimony tending to show that streets outside the city are maintained by the township highway commissioner and not by the city, and that the highway commissioner lacked equipment to maintain the drainage system contemplated by the city. However, on cross-examination, one of plaintiffs' engineer witnesses admitted that under normal conditions the cost of maintaining the storm sewers would be less than the cost of maintaining the open ditches and would require less maintenance service by the township.

One of the defendant's witnesses, a sanitary engineer employed by the State Department of Public Health, testified that surface water drainage in cities, or in areas adjacent thereto, has a direct relation to public health; that there tends to be an increased concentration of waters in built up areas; that in areas where septic tanks are used such tanks do not function properly if the ground becomes saturated with surface waters, and that there is a real hazard to health in the admixture of sewage and surface water. On cross-examination he stated that he considered the county requirements a compromise with adequacy and that surface water drainage...