With tree dispute settled, family moves into Barrington Hills dream home
A couple who waited three years for their 9,200-square-foot dream home in Barrington Hills finally spent their first night in it after their attorneys and village officials struck a deal allowing them to move in while a dispute over the type and size of trees on the property are resolved in a meeting room rather than a federal courtroom.
Under the terms of an initial settlement presented Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the village granted homeowners Najamul and Nausheen Hasan a permit to move into the new home on the 200 block of Westfield Way. Further terms are pending, as is the expected dismissal of the federal lawsuit the couple filed against the village after they were refused an occupancy permit.
The Barrington Hills village board will discuss those terms when they meet Monday night, officials said.
Ryan Van Osdol, an attorney for the Hasans, said the agreement came about after “a lot of phone calls” with village officials and his clients.
“They decided resolving it was better than litigating it,” he said.
U.S. District Court Judge Edmond E. Chang appeared to share that sentiment, refusing to grant delays and pushing the two sides toward settlement in the days leading up to their appearance in his courtroom Thursday morning.
On Thursday, Chang quoted a former president's wisdom on the benefits of compromise.
“It was President Abraham Lincoln who said you ought to discourage litigation and persuade neighbors to compromise,” he said. “That seems to apply here.”
The dispute revolved around the number of heritage trees — defined as trees native to the region and of significant historical value to the village of Barrington Hills — that could be torn down and replaced during construction of the Hasans' home.
An original plan approved by the village called for planting 110, 4-inch heritage trees. But as construction wrapped up last year, the lawsuit states, it became apparent there wasn't enough space on the property to accommodate that many trees.
In December, the village's plan commission rejected the Hasans' 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 the Hasans did not abide by the original plan, the village refused to grant them an occupancy permit that would allow the couple and their four children to move into the home.
In a May 6 letter to the Hasans, Village Administrator Robert Kosin wrote that they could either comply with the original plan or seek an appeal before the plan commission. The Hasans instead filed suit.
Village President Martin McLaughlin declined to comment Thursday because the matter is still pending legislation.