Supreme Court Summaries

Opinions filed June 5, 2008

No. 105096     Napleton v. Village of Hinsdale

      Appellate citation: 374 Ill. App. 3d 1098.

      JUSTICE FREEMAN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

      Chief Justice Thomas and Justices Kilbride, Garman, Karmeier, and Burke concurred in the judgment and opinion.

      Justice Fitzgerald took no part in the decision.

      In this Du Page County case, zoning amendments enacted in 2005 by the Village of Hinsdale were challenged as facially unconstitutional on substantive due process grounds. The complaining plaintiff sought an injunction. The zoning in question precluded the opening of new ground-floor financial institutions in business districts. Its objective was to obtain a balance between premises that generate retail sales tax revenue and those which do not. The circuit court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a cause of action, and the appellate court affirmed.

      In this decision, the Illinois Supreme Court held that the appropriate standard for evaluating zoning legislation is the rational basis test and not any stricter standard, as proposed by the plaintiff. The court upheld the zoning under this test and affirmed the results reached below.