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BY PAT KROCHMAL The Illinois Appellate Court has rejected an appeal to stop the building of an adult book store across the street from the Touhy Mobile Home Park.
The Des Plaines City Council and Elk Grove Township Elementary School District 59 had asked the court to reverse the Cook County Zoning Board of Appeals’ decision allowing the business to operate at 12521 W. Touhy Ave., which is technically in far northwest Chicago.
A Cook County Circuit Court judge also had refused to reverse the decision in September 2000.
Des Plaines City Attorney David Wiltse had argued that the store, although it would be located on industrial-zoned land, would be across the street from a mobile home park with hundreds of children.
The Appellate Court’s opinion stated that laws exist prohibiting an adult business from locating within 1,000 feet of a district zoned for residential use.
However, it added that the restrictions do not apply to this case because the mobile home park is not located in an area zoned for residential use, although it is used for residences.
“I can’t believe that these laws were meant to be used against us. We felt so good about our chances to win this. How can the courts allow this?” asked Terry Nelson, a representative of the Des Plaines Mobile Home Association.
“The next step would be to go to the Illinois Supreme Court, but I don’t know if the city will choose to go forward with this,” she added.
Robert Howard, superintendent of School District 59, who also supported the fight against the business, said the decision was very disappointing.
“An adult book store that close to the homes of children who attend District 59 schools is an inappropriate zoning arrangement. We knew it was an enormous battle because we were dealing with the City of Chicago and Cook County on the issue,” Howard said. “Although the board members have not had an opportunity to discuss this, they will be disappointed to hear about the decision. The courts should not have approved this.”
Wiltse said that the appellate court affirmed the trial court decision in all particulars.
“The substantive reasons for which we filed our motion to reopen (the case) was that there had been arrests at a business run by Anthony Musso, the buyer of the property, and arrests at nearby Heavenly Bodies, an adult entertainment establishment,” Wiltse said. “Those arrests should have gone right to the heart of how those people voted and were ignored.”
Police had charged people at an adult book store in Chicago operated by Musso with prostitution and keeping a disorderly house in March 1993, Wiltse said.
Eleven people, including seven female dancers, were arrested on similar charges in January 1999 at Heavenly Bodies, located in Elk Grove, he added.
“I have a fundamental feeling that things ought to be fair. I fundamentally think that the process was not fair and we were not accorded the due process that we deserved,” Wiltse said
“For a court that is supposed to be sensitive of those issues, all three — the zoning board of appeals, the appellate court and the trial court — looked the other way,” he added.
Wiltse said he now must decide whether grounds exist to take the case further. If they do, he needs the City Council’s backing to proceed.
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