Agenda - Planning Commission - 09/06/2018

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August 25, 2018 I Volume 12 I Issue 16 Zoning Bulletin SEVENTH CIRCUIT (ILLINOIS) (06/29/18)—This case addressed the issue of whether an applicant for a special -use permit had a vested right to use the property for operation of a strip club. The case also ad- dressed the issue of whether the applicant's claim seeking injunctive relief was mooted by Illinois' adult entertainment facility statute. The Background/Facts: Chicago Joes' Tea Room, LLC was formed to operate a strip club. In 2006, Pervis Conway ("Conway") contracted to sell land (the "Property") in the Village of Broadview (the "Village") to David Donahue ("Donahue"). Donahue assigned the land contract to Chicago Joe's Tea Room, LLC. The manager of Chicago Joe's Tea Room, LLC then applied to the Village for a special -use permit needed to operate a strip club on the Property. The Village denied the application. Subsequently, Chicago Joe's Tea Room, LLC and Conway (herein- after, collectively, "Chicago Joe's") sued the Village. They alleged that the Village violated Chicago Joe's First Amendment rights. Among other things, Chicago Joe's asked the district court to declare that certain Village zoning ordinances were unconstitutional, in violation of the First Amendment. Chicago Joe's also asked the court to issue an injunction blocking the Village from enforcing its zoning ordinance. The Village's zoning ordinance required a special -use permit for "adult businesses," which included strip clubs. The Village's zoning ordinance also used a separate adult -use zoning ordinance to regulate the placement of strip clubs. Finding there were no material issues of fact in dispute, and deciding the matter based on the law alone, the district court judge granted sum- mary judgment in favor of the Village on Chicago Joe's declaratory judgment and injunction claims. With regard to the injunction claim, the district court concluded that those claims were moot in light of an Illinois statute prohibiting the location of "adult entertainment facili- ties" within one mile of certain other uses. Chicago Joe's appealed that order, limiting its arguments on appeal to the denials of injunctive relief. DECISION: Judgment of United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois affirmed. The United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, agreed with the district court that Chicago Joe's injunction claims were moot. The court explained that, a few months after the Village had denied Chicago Joe's permit application, the Illinois legislature had amended its "adult entertainment facility" statute to prohibit "locat[ing], construct[ing], or operat[ing] a new adult entertainment facility within one mile of the property boundaries of any school, day care center, cemetery, public park, forest preserve, public housing, or place of 10 © 2018 Thomson Reuters