Barrington Hills won't let couple in their new house because of trees

It took the couple about three years to build their dream house, a 9,200-square-foot mansion in a Barrington Hills subdivision, and although construction is complete, they can't move in.

The village of Barrington Hills refuses to grant a permit allowing Najamul and Nausheen Hasan and their four children to occupy their new home on the 200 block of Westfield Way.

The house is perfectly safe to live in and meets the village's building codes, their attorney Rick DiMonte said.

What's the holdup? A landscaping dispute.

Village Administrator Robert Kosin told the homeowners in a letter earlier this month they can't occupy the house until they comply with an original plan to replace so-called heritage trees.

Village ordinance regulates how many can be torn down and replaced during construction, defining the trees - an 8-inch hickory, for instance - as native to the region and of "significant historical value to the village of Barrington Hills."

After they were denied the permit, the Hasans' attorney filed a lawsuit asking a U.S. District Court judge to deem the tree ordinance unconstitutional. The complaint also says their civil rights have been violated in part because the village hasn't enforced the ordinance "against any other similarly situated person."

"There's no rational relationship between preservation of trees and occupying their home," DiMonte said Friday. "You can live in your house and violate the tree ordinance and not get kicked out."

What's more, the family has to move out of their current Hoffman Estates home by Monday under the terms of a lease with their renter, the suit states.

DiMonte said the village is holding their custom home "hostage until (the Hasans) comply with the version of what they want done."

An original plan approved by the village called for planting 110, 4-inch heritage trees, according to the complaint. But as construction wrapped up in 2014, the lawsuit states, reaching that number was no longer feasible because there wasn't enough space.

In December, the village's plan commission rejected their offer to instead add 21 heritage trees. The village's arborist at the time said the 140, 6-foot Colorado spruces installed on the lot didn't count as heritage trees and likely would die within two years because of the area's climate and the existing tree canopy.

Then in March, the Hasans and the village's building officer settled on a deal to plant 36 heritage trees by this September, according to the complaint. The officer told the Hasans they'd get a temporary occupancy permit after a final building code inspection, the lawsuit states. And based on those assurances, the Hasans marketed their Hoffman Estates house and reached a deal to lease it out.

Court documents also state that their four children, ages 5 to 19, would suffer "emotional difficulties" from moving into a hotel for an unknown period of time, pointing to "ridicule" from other students. But the family does plan to move into a hotel, their attorney said.

Village Attorney Mary Dickson, however, said the building officer "erred in thinking that he had the authority to grant a modification to the plan." That authority rests with the plan commission, village officials maintain.

In his May 6 letter, Kosin also said the Hasans have two options: Follow the original plan to replace trees or seek an appeal before the plan commission.

DiMonte countered that "generally speaking," the village employee has discretion to issue permits under building code. DiMonte said the Hasans "aren't against trees."

The Hasans acquired the site in 2007 and secured a village building permit about a year later, but because of the "economy and other personal reasons," they didn't start construction until 2012, the lawsuit states.

Besides the village, neighbor Peggy Judd has been an open critic of their landscaping. Her husband emailed the building department in April about moving trucks unloading furniture at the home despite the plan commission's ruling, according to the suit.

Judd also was "admonished" by Barrington Hills police to stop calling, texting or emailing the homeowners "because of her inability to be civil toward them," the suit states.

Judd didn't return messages for comment. And Village President Martin McLaughlin referred inquiries to Dickson, citing the pending litigation.

On Friday, a hearing was held on a motion seeking a preliminary injunction in favor of granting the permit. That hearing was continued to 1:30 p.m. Thursday.