Bjork v. Draper

              No. 2--06--1145 Filed: 4-25-08
______________________________________________________________________________
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
SECOND DISTRICT
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JOHN BJORK and STEPHANIE BJORK, ) Appeal from the Circuit Court
) of Lake County.
Plaintiffs-Appellants and )
Cross-Appellees, ))
v. ) No. 03--MR--1491
)
JOHN DRAPER, LIZ DRAPER, and LAKE )
FOREST OPEN LANDS ASSOCIATION, ))
Honorable
Defendants-Appellees and ) Stephen E. Walter,
Cross-Appellants. ) Judge, Presiding.
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JUSTICE GILLERAN JOHNSON delivered the opinion of the court:
The instant controversy arises from a dispute between the plaintiffs, John and Stephanie
Bjork, and their neighbors, the defendants John and Liz Draper, as to whether a conservation
easement on the Drapers' property could be amended. The defendant Lake Forest Open Lands
Association (the Association) is in charge of managing the conservation easement. The Association
allowed the Drapers to amend the easement on three occasions. The trial court ruled that, as a matter
of law, the conservation easement could be amended. Following a bench trial, the trial court
determined that the first two amendments to the easement were proper but that the third amendment
was not. The Bjorks filed a notice of appeal, contending that the trial court erred in determining that
the conservation easement could be amended. The defendants filed a cross-appeal, asserting that the