November 21, 2024
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Judge’s decision in Barrington Hills horse-boarding case upheld

By Russell Lissau - Daily Herald Media Group
A Cook County judge has ruled a Barrington Hills ordinance allowing commercial horse boarding at Oakwood Farms and other places to be constitutional, rejecting arguments that conspiracy and corruption were the basis of its adoption.

A Cook County judge has ruled a Barrington Hills ordinance allowing commercial horse boarding at Oakwood Farms and other places to be constitutional, rejecting arguments that conspiracy and corruption were the basis of its adoption. (Daily Herald file photo, 2011)

A state appeals court has upheld a Cook County judge’s 2023 ruling in a civil case stemming from a lengthy dispute between Barrington Hills neighbors over a horse-boarding business.

A three-judge panel on Monday unanimously affirmed Judge David B. Atkins’ decision against James J. Drury III, who’d sued Barrington Hills in 2015 over a zoning ordinance establishing rules for boarding businesses in the equestrian-friendly town. Drury alleged the ordinance was unconstitutional; Atkins disagreed.

The appeals court found Atkins made no errors and that the evidence presented at trial “fully supported” his conclusion.

Also listed as plaintiffs are Jack E. Reich and James T. O’Donnell, both of whom were Barrington Hills residents at the time the lawsuit was filed. An attorney for the plaintiffs couldn’t be reached.

Mary Dickson, an attorney for the village, declined to comment on the appellate ruling. Mayor Brian D. Cecola and trustees haven’t yet met to review the decision, Dickson said.

The ruling was the latest development in a legal fight that dates back to the 2000s between Drury and neighbors Benjamin and Cathleen LeCompte, who at the time operated a commercial boarding operation at their Oakwood Farms, 362 Bateman Road. Drury — the former leader of a polo club that once used LeCompte’s polo field — alleged the business disrupted the neighborhood.

In 2015, the village amended zoning rules to allow commercial horse boarding as an agricultural use. But after the board’s composition changed as a result of the spring 2015 election, trustees repealed the ordinance.

In his lawsuit, Drury alleged the now-repealed zoning rules resulted from political corruption, pointing to $5,000 campaign donations Benjamin LeCompte made to trustee candidates in the 2011 village election. Those donations were refunded after the Illinois State Board of Elections determined the candidates didn’t properly identify LeCompte as the donor in campaign reports.

The appellate court agreed with Atkins’ ruling that the donations didn’t represent a political conspiracy and didn’t affect the creation of the ordinance.

“The court found no connection whatsoever to LeCompte or anything diabolical in nature,” the court said. “LeCompte’s donation was perfectly legitimate.

The case continued after the 2015 ordinance was struck down. Oakwood Farms still operates and is run by the couple’s daughter, Ashlee, its website indicates.

Attorney Jim Kelly, who represented the LeComptes and others who joined the lawsuit after it was filed because they had an interest in the case, was pleased with this week’s decision.

“The appellate court substantiated what we knew all along, that the ordinance was valid and constitutional,” Kelly said.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241003/local/judges-decision-in-barrington-hills-horse-boarding-case-upheld/

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