Smart Growth Sugar Grove, LLC. v. The Village of Sugar Grove

              No. 2--06--0656 Filed: 8-3-07
______________________________________________________________________________
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
SECOND DISTRICT
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SMART GROWTH SUGAR GROVE, LLC, ) Appeal from the Circuit Court
) of Kane County.
Plaintiff-Appellant, ))
v. ) No. 05--MR--465
)
THE VILLAGE OF SUGAR GROVE, ) Honorable
) Michael J. Colwell,
Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge, Presiding.
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JUSTICE O'MALLEY delivered the opinion of the court:
Plaintiff, Smart Growth Sugar Grove, LLC, filed a six-count complaint against defendant,
the Village of Sugar Grove (the Village), challenging (1) the Village's refusal to rezone plaintiff's
property, which the Village had annexed in accordance with an agreement with plaintiff's
predecessor; and (2) a provision in the Village's comprehensive plan recommending that the Village
acquire a right-of-way across plaintiff's property for a possible highway interchange. The Village
moved to dismiss the complaint as untimely (see 735 ILCS 5/2--619(a)(5) (West 2004)) under
section 7--1--46 of the Illinois Municipal Code (Code) (65 ILCS 5/7--1--46 (West 2004)), which
states that a complaint directly or indirectly challenging the annexation of territory to a municipality
be filed no later than a year after the annexation becomes final. The Village also argued that the
counts of the complaint challenging the comprehensive plan were unripe. The trial court held that
all of the counts were untimely, and it dismissed the complaint.