Appellate court grants bleachers temporary stay

An appellate court ruling will spare the bleachers at Crystal Lake South High School their Dec. 1 appointment with the wrecking ball.

The state appellate court in Elgin issued a stay of a ruling from McHenry County Judge Michael Chmiel that the bleachers be torn down. Now it will be up to the Illinois Supreme Court to decide whether to hear the case.

According to the ruling by the Second District Appellate Court in Elgin, the stay will be lifted if the petition for leave to appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court is denied. If it is granted, the stay will continue until the appeal in the Supreme Court is resolved.

“The district is grateful for the Appellate Court's decision to stay the bleacher teardown,” said Jeff Puma, Crystal Lake Community High School District 155 spokesman.

“This is a complex issue with ranging implications for District 155 and other school districts across the state, so we hope that the Illinois Supreme Court will provide a definitive ruling,” Puma said.

The ruling is significant, he said, because it will affect future building decisions, not just for the high school district but for districts throughout the state.

Rather than going through the regional office of education for construction projects, such projects would be subject to local zoning.

“A lot of the focus has been on the bleachers themselves. But for District 155, the case is more related to the construction piece,” Puma said.

In August 2013, McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi, who owns a rental home near the bleachers, along with residents Jeff and Kim Gurba, sued in an effort to stop project.

They argued the school district didn't inform nearby residents of the $1.2 million plan for larger bleachers at the school and failed to get permits from the city.

Last December, Chmiel ruled the district broke the law and an appellate court agreed.

School leaders never met with Crystal Lake officials to go through the zoning process, which is what Chmiel ordered in September, insisting instead on appealing the matter to the state's highest court.

Last month, Chmiel ordered the bleachers be dismantled.