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<br />Zoning Bulletin <br /> <br />court ultimately found in the city's favor because it was immune from <br />lawsuits of this nature. Under the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims <br />Act, divisions of the local government were not liable for actions <br />based on the revocation of a permit or license. <br />Rohde appealed the decision to the state supreme court. <br /> <br />Decision: Affirmed. <br /> <br />The issue on appeal was whether the Act applied in this case. The <br />interpretation of the Act was a question of law; courts give statu- <br />tory language its plain and ordinary meaning and only attempt to" <br />ascertain further explanation when language is ambiguous. Here, <br />the supreme court found that the language of the Act was clear and <br />unambiguous and that the lower court had applied it correctly in <br />its decision. <br />Even if Knoepfel was acting as a city official when he told Rohde <br />that he should subdivide his land into two, 2.S-acre tracts, the city <br />could not be held liable for the revocation of the building permit be- <br />cause the subdivision did not comply with city ordinances. <br />Because the findings of a trial court would not be disturbed unless <br />they were clearly wrong, the judgment in favor of the city was affirmed. <br /> <br />Signs-Store owner claims sign ordinance violates First, <br />14th Amendments <br /> <br />Alleges other stores used similar signs ~'ithout recourse <br /> <br />Citation: Beauty of Flowe1's v. City of Des Plaines,Ill., 2007 WL <br />1521529 (N.D. Ill. 2007) <br /> <br />ILLINOIS (OS/22/07)-Beauty of Flowers was a flower retailer that <br />operated in the city of Des Plaines since 2000. The owner and op- <br />erators of the business were Polish immigrants, and many of the cus- <br />tomers were from local Polish communities. In 2001, the store began <br />using a free-standing sign that contained only the words "flowers" <br />and its Polish translation, "kwiaty," outside its building. <br />At some point, the sign was taken down without the store's knowl- <br />edge. The store owner reported what was believed to be a theft to the <br />police. After the sign was reported stolen, a zoning inspector issued <br />the store a citation because free-standing signs were not permitted. <br />Subsequently, the police deparLIIlent discovered that the sign was actu- <br />ally removed by the zoning department and informed the store that it <br />was being "displayed" in the office of a zoning inspector. <br />Beauty of Flowers began using a bar,mer to advertise its business, <br />but it was cited for use of this sign as well. After a hearing, the store <br /> <br />10 <br /> <br />168 <br />