The Law

Billboard Permit Not Renewed by Ron Davis Efforts to preserve a controversial billboard erected on Illinois property destined for construction of a shopping center have apparently failed. The property, located in the suburban Chicago community of Kildeer, became the site of the billboard after the state issued a permit for such use in 1989. But after later acquiring the property, the current owner made plans to build a shopping center there. And when he applied to local authorities with those plans, they readily approved them. Such approval, however, meant that the owner would need the space occupied by the billboard. Fortunately for the owner, he discovered that the billboard owner had not renewed his state billboard permit. So after the property owner gained approval for the shopping center plans and those plans required removal of the billboard, he sought local approval to develop the venue occupied by that billboard. In response, the owner of the billboard refused to take it down. And he persistently ignored efforts to require compliance—even when local authorities ordered him to do so. He argued that the space where the billboard is located had been selected for use by the shopping center owner as a parking area for customers. He therefore argued that the billboard and the parking area could coexist. Such determination did nothing to dissuade the owner of the property, and he sued the billboard owner. An Illinois court sided with the property owner, ruling that the parking lot proposed for the shopping center is an “accessory building,” triggering the right to remove the billboard from the property. The billboard owner appealed that ruling, disputing the court’s finding that the parking lot proposed for the center property is an accessory building and thus does not give the center’s owner the right to terminate the lease. Meanwhile, Kildeer administration officials enacted a regulation related to the shopping center construction. That regulation made no mention of the billboard as part of that construction. In fact, the regulation allows the center’s owner to locate the parking lot where the billboard currently stands. Shortly after that, the officials agreed that the billboard is illegal and ordered the billboard owner to remove it from the center premises. The owner of the billboard continued to object to its removal on grounds that it is simply a nonconforming use of the property. On appeal, an Illinois appellate court explained that the billboard permit became void upon the failure to renew the permit and thus the lease was unenforceable because its purpose had been rendered illegal. (Bond Kildeer Marketplace, LLC v.CBS Outdoor, Inc., 2012 WL 4434084 [Ill.App. 2 Dist.]) Decision: September 2012 Published: October 2012