MAUDE W. WELTON еt al. Appellants, vs. EVA H. HAMILTON et al. Appellees
No. 19259
April 23, 1931
82-98
SAMUEL A. ETTELSON, Corporation Counsel, FRANK J. CORR, CORA B. HIRTZEL, BARNET HODES, and SONNENSCHEIN, BERKSON, LAUTMANN & LEVINSON, (JOHN LYLE VETTE, MAURICE BERKSON, and ISAAC E. FERGUSON, of counsel,) for appellees.
Mr. CHIEF JUSTICE DUNN delivered the opinion of the court:
Maude W. Welton and Rebecca S. Chandler sued out of the superior court of Cook county a writ of certiorari directed to the zoning board of appeals of the city of Chicago requiring it to certify to the superior court a transcript of its order of March 27, 1928, on the appeal of Maurice L. Bein, purporting to act for the 40 East Oak Street
The following is the order made by the board of appeals:
“BOARD OF APPEALS, CITY OF CHICAGO,
603 City Hall.
Cal. No. 90-28-Z
Map No. 21 Sec. 3
Minutes of meeting
March 27, 1928.Appellant: Maurice L. Bein
Appearances for: Barnet Hodes, Attorney
Appearances against:
Premises affected: 36-42 E. Oak street.
Subjеct: Appeal to vary the requirements of the zoning ordinance.
Action of board:
Appeal granted. The vote
Affirmative Negative Absent Eva H. Hamilton James A. Creighton John A. Lind Louis J. Meyers John E. Traeger “The resolution:
“Whereas, Maurice L. Bein, for the 40 East Oak Street Building Corporation, owner, heretofore applied to the commissioner of buildings for a permit for the erection of a 20-story apartment hotel building on premises at 36-42 East Oak Street; and“Whereas, the proposed building is to be located in a fourth volume commercial district and would exceed by 141 feet the alley line height limit and would violate the volume district regulations of the zoning ordinance; and
“Whereas, the commissioner of buildings on March 12, 1928, in acting upon the said application rendered the following decision: ‘Application not approved. Proposed improvement does not conform with requirements of zoning ordinance;’ and
“Whereas, an appeal under the law has now been taken to the board of appeals to vary or modify the provisions of the zoning ordinance so as to permit the erection of the proposed building; and
“Whereas, said appeal was taken on the 14th day of March, 1928, by filing with the commissioner of buildings and with the board of appeals a notice of appeal, specifying the grounds thereof; and
“Whereas, an inspection of the premisеs was made by members of the board; and
“Whereas, a public hearing was held on this appeal by the board of appeals at its regular meeting held on March 20, 1928, after giving due notice thereof to the parties; and
“Whereas, the board of appeals, having fully heard the testimony and arguments of the parties and being fully advised in the premises, finds that in this case there is unnecessary hardship in the way of carrying out the strict letter of the zoning ordinance, and that the spirit of the zoning ordinance may be observed, public safety and welfare secured and substantial justice done by permitting the erection of the proрosed building. It is therefore
“Resolved, That the board of appeals, by virtue of the authority conferred upon it, does hereby make a variation in the application of the volume district regulations of the zoning ordinance, and that the appeal be and it hereby is granted on condition that all permits necessary for the prosecution of the work shall be obtained within six months and the building completed within twelve months after the date of this action, and the commissioner of buildings is hereby ordered to issue a permit herein in conformity with the provisions of this resolution; and
“Resolved, further, that plans in triplicate shall be аpproved by the board before a building permit is issued herein.”
The order shows that the proposed building is to be erected in a fourth volume commercial district, and section 19 of the zoning ordinance, which is attached to the return, provides that “(c) for each one foot that a building or portion of it is distant from the center line of any alley, such building, or such portion thereof, may be erected
It is contended by the appellants that the authority attempted to be conferred upon the city council by the Zoning act to establish a board of appeals is in excess of the constitutional limitation of the legislative power because it confers upon the board of appeals authority to determine and vary the application of the zоning regulations without restriction; that the ordinance is invalid because the statute authorizing its appointment is unconstitutional and because it contains no general or specific rules in accordance with which the board of appeals may determine and vary the application of the ordinance, as required by the statute; and that the order of the board of appeals is void because it is arbitrary, is not based upon any finding of facts and is not justified by the evidence.
All the legislative power of the State is vested by the constitution in the General Assembly, consisting of a senate and house of representatives, and this power may not
In each of the first five cases cited the discretion authorized to be exercised by the public official concerned was not as to what the law was or should be but was in regard to its execution, to be exercised under and in pursuance of the law in the determination of the number of dram-shop licenses which should be issued and the location of the dram-shops authorized to be licensed; in the approval by the inspector of factories of the number, location, material and construction of the fire-escapes required to render access to such fire-escapes from each story easy and safe, as requirеd by the law; in the approval by the commissioner of public work of the drip-pans or other devices which should effectually prevent the spilling of turpentine, oil, etc., on the street; in the ascertainment by the chief of police whether the pictures proposed to be exhibited were immoral or obscene. These were all things proper for the legislature to do itself but were also things impracticable for it to do advantageously or understandingly. The law stated the object to be accomplished or the thing permitted and then called into action the local authorities or agencies to accomplish in detail, with their better opportunities, the object which is authorized or required in general terms.
The other six cases cited are of a different character. Street parades are not necessarily public nuisances or un-
The first Zoning act in Illinois was enacted in 1919. The succeeding General Assembly repealed this act and substituted in its place the act of 1921, (Laws of 1921, p. 180,) which was held in City of Aurora v. Burns, 319 Ill. 84, to be a valid enactment as against the constitutional objections made in that case, and as amended in 1923 is still in force. (Laws of 1923, p. 268.) It is the power which section 3 as amended in 1923 attempts to confer on the city council to create a board of apрeals which the appellants attack as unconstitutional. The provisions of that section necessary to be considered in this case are as follows:
“All ordinances passed under the terms of this act shall be enforced by such officer of the city, village or incorporated town as may be designated by ordinance. The regulations by this act authorized, may provide that a board of appeals may determine and vary their application in harmony with their general purpose and intent and in accord-
ance with general or specific rules therein contained. Such city council and president and board of trustees may provide for the appointment of a board of appeals consisting of five members. * * * “Such board of appeals shall hear and decide appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision or determination made by an administrative official charged with the enforcement of any ordinance adopted pursuant to this act. It shall also hear and decide all matters referred to it or upon which it is required to pass under any such ordinance. The concurring vote of four members of the board shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirеment, decision or determination of any such administrative official, or to decide in favor of the applicant any matter upon which it is required to pass under any such ordinance or to effect any variation in such ordinance. Such an appeal [may] be taken by any person aggrieved or by an officer, department, board or bureau of the municipality. * * *
“The board of appeals shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal and give due notice thereof to the parties and decide the same within a reasonable time. Upon the hearing, any party may aрpear in person or by agent or by attorney. The board of appeals may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision or determination as in its opinion ought to be made in the premises, and to that end shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken. Where there are practical difficulties or unnecessary hardship in the way of carrying out the strict letter of such ordinance, the board of appeals shall have the power in passing upon appeals, to vary or modify the application of any of the regulations or provisions of such ordinance relating to the use, construction or alteration of buildings or structures or the use of land, so that the spirit of the ordinance shall be observed, public safety and welfare secured and substantial justice done.”
Practical difficulties and unnecessary hardships, under this statute, are whatever conditions the board of appeals decides to be such difficulties and hardships. In this particular case the board of appeals did not make any attempt to state what the difficulty or hardship was in the way of carrying out the strict letter of the ordinance or in what respect the spirit of the zoning ordinance might be observed, the public safety and welfare secured and substantial justice done by permitting the erection of the proposed building. The board simply made the general finding that there is unnecessary hardship, etc., and ordered the issue of the permit, and the only thing decided is that the board of appeals thought a permit ought to issue in this case in accordance with the plans submitted and in violation of the express provisions of the ordinance but with no indication of the reason why. The ordinance had been in existence for years before the 40 East Oak Street Building Corporation bought the lot in question with full knowledge that it could not lawfully construct on that lot the building it is now proposing to construct there. The commissioner of buildings refused a permit for the construction of the building and could not lawfully have done otherwise, and the only difficulty or hardship appearing in the record in the way of carrying out the strict letter of the zoning ordinance is, that if the corporation is compelled to comply with the provision of the ordinance which restricts the height of its building on the alley to 72 feet, it will be unable to have as many or as large rooms or as many square feet of renting space in its building as it could have if permitted to erect the building on the alley to the height of 214 feet without set-backs, as required by the ordinance, and will therefore be unable to make as much money on its invest-
The part of section 3 which purports to authorize the board of appeals to vary or modify the application of any of the regulations or provisions of the zoning ordinance relating to the use, construction or alteration of buildings or structures or the use of land is arbitrary and unconstitutional because it is a delegation to an administrative body of the power of legislation, which can be exercised only by a legislative body. Other provisions of the section are not questioned. The provisions of the ordinance based on this part of the section are also unconstitutional, and while the creation of the board of appeals is not shown to be invalid, it is without authority to vary or modify the regulations or provisions of the ordinance.
It is contended by the appellees that the appellants waived the question of the constitutionality of the act because it was not raised by them at the hearing before the
The board of appeals is not a court but an administrative board which has no judicial powers and the hearing before it is not a judicial proceeding. (People v. Peoria and Pekin Union Railway Co. 273 Ill. 440; City of Aurora v. Schoeberlein, 230 id. 496.) It has no legislative powers and its only authority is in connection with the execution of the law. The attempted unconstitutional delegation to it of legislative power gave it no jurisdiction or authority to amend or modify the ordinance or change its application to the facts in this case. It is well settled that, with certain exceptions, an individual may waive even a constitutional provision intended for the protection of his property
The decree is reversed and final judgment will be entered in this court reversing the order of the board of appeals and affirming the order of the building commissioner, with costs against the appellees other than the board of appeals.
Judgment reversed.
Subsequently, at the June term, upon motion for leave to file a second petition for rehearing, the following announcement was made:
Mr. CHIEF JUSTICE STONE: In this case there is a motion by the appellees for leave to file their second petition for rehearing. Their previous petition for rehearing was allowed, the cause was further considered, and at the April term, 1931, of this court an opinion was filed adhering to the previous decision. When a rehearing is allowed and the cause further considered it is the decision of the court, rather than the language employed or the reasons given in the opinion, which is the subject of reconsideration. When the decision originally made is adhered to on such reconsideration it will not be open to further review at the instance of the same party on petition for rehearing, though the reasons given for the decision may be modified in the new opinion or the grounds of the decision changed. This rule was announced in Smith v. Dennison, 101 Ill. 657, and in Garrick v. Chamberlain, 100 id. 476, and has been the rule of this court since that time.
The motion for leave to file a second petition for rehearing is denied.
Motion denied.
