Stahelin v. Forest Preserve District

              No. 2--06--0676 Filed: 10-10-07
______________________________________________________________________________
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
SECOND DISTRICT
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LELAND STAHELIN and JES VENTURES, ) Appeal from the Circuit
L.L.C., ) Court of Du Page County.
)
Plaintiffs-Appellants, ))
v. ) No. 05--MR--1426
)
THE FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT )
OF DU PAGE COUNTY and MORTON )
ARBORETUM, ) Honorable
) Bonnie M. Wheaton,
Defendants-Appellees. ) Judge, Presiding.
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JUSTICE BYRNE delivered the opinion of the court:
Plaintiffs, Leland Stahelin and JES Ventures, L.L.C., are owners of an 18-acre parcel of land
bordered on three sides by defendant Morton Arboretum (Morton). Plaintiffs wish to develop the
property, and defendant the Forest Preserve District of Du Page County (the District) wishes to
preserve the property in its current state, for the benefit of the public. Following negotiations to buy
the subject property, which negotiations fell apart, and a suit for condemnation, which was dismissed
by the District, plaintiffs brought this action against defendants, seeking: (1) a finding of inverse
condemnation and the issuance of a writ of mandamus to initiate condemnation proceedings; (2) a
finding of a violation of plaintiffs' substantive due process rights as a result of an alleged conspiracy
between Morton and the District; (3) a declaration that certain ordinances approved by the District
were ultra vires acts; and (4) the elimination of the cloud on plaintiffs' title to the property. The trial