Agenda - Planning Commission - 12/04/2014

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Zoning Bulletin October 25, 2014 I Volume 8 I Issue 20 local school boards and districts are subject to the land -use and zon- ing regime of the municipality in which they reside. The Background/Facts: The Community High School District No. 155 (the "District") operated several high schools located within Lake and McHenry Counties in Illinois, including the Crystal Lake South high school ("CLS") in the City of Crystal Lake (the "City"). After a failed structural inspection of bleachers at CLS' football stadium, the Board of Education of Community High School District No. 155 (the "Board") decided to reconstruct and relocate the home bleachers. The Board submitted its bleacher plan to the McHenry County regional superintendent of schools (the "Superintendent"). The Superintendent issued a building permit for the bleachers pursuant to § 3-14.20 of the Illinois School Code (105 ILCS 5/3-14.20 (West 2010).).The Board did not proceed under the City's zoning code or notify the City. While the bleacher project was underway, the City objected. The City maintained that the project, which was in a single-family home zoning district, required a special -use permit, a stormwater permit, and zoning variances from the City. The City also maintained that the applicable zoning restrictions limited the height, size, and setback distance of the bleachers. The Board disagreed. As the City and the Board's controversy was gearing up, owners of property adjacent to the CLS football stadium (the "Property Owners") sued the District and the Board. The Property Owners sought to privately enforce the City's zoning and stormwater ordinances. The Board filed a third -party complaint against the City and the Superintendent, seeking a declaration from the court that the bleacher project was not subject to the City's zoning or stoiuiwater ordinances. The Board pointed to the Illinois Constitution, which declares public education to be a matter of statewide concern, and to the Illinois School Code, which regulates public education and "has relegated to municipalities only a limited role." Based on those authorities, the Board contended that the City's zoning power stopped at the boundary of property used for school purposes. Es- sentially, the Board argued: (1) that under the Illinois Constitution, both school districts and home -rule units (such as the City) were given powers, and that the Constitution's treatment of public educa- tion "as a matter of statewide concern" raised the priority and pow- ers of public education institutions above those of home -rule units; and (2) that the Illinois School Code effectively preempted the field of public education, trumping any municipal ordinance that intrudes ,© 2014 Thomson Reuters 9