A federal appeals
court judge has turned sarcastic to blast the city of Chicago’s zoning “incompetencies”
– or perhaps corruption – in a case over the use of a former YMCA building on
the South Side. The 7th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to the trial court for a
determination of what damages may be due to the World Outreach Conference
Center.
The case began a
decade ago when the ministry, under Pamela Blossom, took over the former YMCA
building, which included conference rooms, a swimming pool and several upper
stories that held 168 rooms to rent out to individuals.
The city demanded
that the church obtain a special-use permit before it could get a license to
rent out the rooms, even though that had not been required of the previous
owner. The city’s demand violated a city ordinance stipulating use permissions
not be changed by the ownership of a facility.
“A change in
ownership as such has no effect on a building’s status as a legal nonconforming
use,” wrote Judge
Richard Posner of the 7th Circuit. “And the city’s zoning department
had no reason to think that the change of ownership in this case would
significantly change the use to which the building was put…..…“The 7th
Circuit’s opinion will allow a jury to see how a city that claims to care for
victims of gang violence and the homeless actually operates when these goals
conflict with the corrupt practices of aldermen.”.......To Read More....
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