Strohl v. Macon County Zoning Bd. of Appeals, 32215

• Citation: 411 Ill. 559,104 N.E.2d 612
• Decision Date: 20 March 1952
• Docket Number: No. 32215,32215
• Parties: STROHL et al. v. MACON COUNTY ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS et al.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Page 612

104 N.E.2d 612

411 Ill. 559

STROHL et al. v. MACON COUNTY ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS et al.

No. 32215.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

March 20, 1952.

Kenneth E. Evans, State's Atty., Lloyd F. Latendresse, and Roy B. Foster, all of Decatur, for appellants.

John Alan Appleman, of Urbana, and Dwight H. Doss, of Monticello, for appellees.

DAILY, Chief Justice.

Appellants, who are the Macon County Zoning Board of Appeals, the county of Macon, and Alan N. Buck, the county administrative officer, appeal from a decree of the circuit court of Macon County which reversed an order of the board denying the request of John M. Strohl and Lorene S. Strohl, the appellees, for the rezoning of certain of their property situated within the county limits. The decree also enjoined appellants from interfering with appellees' use of their premises for the purposes of a grocery store and meat market. The proceeding in the circuit court was a judicial review purportedly brought under the provisions of the Administrative Review Act (Ill.Rev.Stat.1951, chap. 110, pars. 264-279.) The appeal has been taken directly to this court because constitutional issues were raised and passed upon in the proceeding in the circuit court and the decisions thereon preserved for review. Appellees have filed a cross appeal, contending that the lower court erred in not finding the County Zoning Act (Ill.Rev.Stat.1951, chap. 34, pars. 152i-152o) to be unconstitutional in its entirety.

Since January 1, 1950, final decisions of a county zoning board of appeals have been subject to judicial review pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Review Act (Laws of 1949, p. 689), and the result has been a marked departure from the method and manner of judicial review previously prescribed in section 3 of the County Zoning Act. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1947, chap. 34, par. 152k.) We are particularly concerned here with the requirements relating to pleadings and the record on review, and the scope of the review. Section 9 of the Administrative Review Act makes the following provisions with regard to pleadings and the record on review:

'(a) (Complaint.) The complaint shall contain a statement of the decision or part thereof sought to be reviewed. It shall specify whether the transcript of evidence, if any, or what portion thereof, shall be filed by the agency as part of the record. Upon motion of any defendant, or upon its own motion, the court may require of the plaintiff a specification of the errors relied upon for reversal.

'(b) (Answer.) Except as herein otherwise provided, the administrative agency shall file an answer which shall consist of the original or a certified copy of the entire record of proceedings under review, including such evidence as may have been heard by it and the findings and decisions made by it. By order of court or by stipulation of all parties to the review, the record may be shortened by the elimination of any portion thereof. If the complaint specifies that none or only a part of the transcript of evidence shall be filed as part of the answer and if the administrative agency or any other defendant objects thereto, the court shall hear the parties upon this question and make a finding as to whether all, or if less than all, what parts of the transcript shall be included in the answer. No pleadings other than as herein enumerated shall be filed by any party unless required by the court.

'(c) (Record after remandment.) If the cause is remanded to the Administrative Agency and a review shall thereafter be sought of the administrative decision, the original and supplemental record, or so much thereof as shall be determined by court order or the stipulation of all the parties, shall constitute the record on review.'

The foregoing section has been implemented by Rule 71(4) of this court, Ill.Rev.Stat.1951, c. 110, § 259.71(4), which provides: 'The original copy of the answer of the administrative agency, consisting of the record of proceedings (including the evidence, if any,) had before the administrative agency, may, upon the order of the trial court, be incorporated in the record on appeal from the Circuit or Superior Courts to the Appellate or Supreme Court.'

The scope of the judicial review of a final administrative decision is set forth in section II of the Administrative Review Act as follows: '(Scope of review.) Every action to review any final administrative decision shall be heard and determined by the court with all convenient speed. The hearing and determination shall extend to all questions of law and of fact presented by the entire record before the court. No new or additional evidence in support of or in opposition to any finding, order, determination or decision of the administrative agency shall be heard by the court. The findings and conclusions of the administrative agency on questions of fact shall be held to be prima facie true and correct.'

The pleadings and procedure on judicial review in the present case appear to have been conducted in complete disregard of the foregoing legislative directions. Although the complaint requested that the defendants named be required to file a complete record of the proceedings under review, all that was filed was an answer which merely...