Indian Lakes calls Bloomingdale's interpretation of own village code 'flawed'
The owner of Indian Lakes Resort and a company that wants to redevelop roughly 190 acres of the property say a lawsuit they filed against Bloomingdale should proceed, despite the village's arguments to dismiss the case.
Property owner First ILR LLC and developer K. Hovnanian T & C Homes are suing Bloomingdale to compel the village to do a preliminary review of plans for the site.
The plaintiffs say village officials have refused to schedule public hearings for K. Hovnanian's proposal to rezone the 223-acre resort's former golf course and transform it into a neighborhood with hundreds of houses for empty nesters.
Bloomingdale officials insist K. Hovnanian's application can't go to the planning and zoning commission because it's incomplete. They say K. Hovnanian must provide final engineering because it wants to rezone the land.
Now attorneys for the village are seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed. A hearing is scheduled for next month.
But in a response filed last week, a lawyer representing First ILR and K. Hovnanian said Bloomingdale's motion is "premised on a flawed interpretation of the village's code." He also says K. Hovnanian wasn't required to pursue administrative remedies before the lawsuit was filed.
The village's attorneys argue that K. Hovnanian submitted its application Sept. 15 in accordance with a section of the village code that doesn't allow for preliminary plan approval.
But in his response, Robert T. O'Donnell - one of the attorneys for First ILR and K. Hovnanian - says that's not the way the village's zoning code works. "Quite simply, more than one provision of the village's code applies to the plaintiff's application," he wrote.
O'Donnell said the application submitted by K. Hovnanian indicated the company was seeking several categories of zoning relief.
He also is challenging the village's claim that the matter "is not ripe for review" by the court because K. Hovnanian "has failed to exhaust its administrative remedies."
O'Donnell said Bloomingdale officials previously "made it clear" to his clients that there is no administrative opportunity to appeal the village's decision.
"Therefore, plaintiffs have exhausted their administrative remedies with respect to this lawsuit to the full extent possible," he wrote.
Bloomingdale's attorneys argue that K. Hovnanian could have pursued alternatives with the village.
Village officials have blamed the developer's rezoning request for complicating the process. Final engineering is needed for a rezoning in the village, they say.
To resolve that issue, K. Hovnanian could have dropped its rezoning request and submitted an application for a planned unit development, according to the village's attorneys.
However, O'Donnell said that's not a remedy because it requires First ILR and K. Hovnanian "to capitulate to the village's demands, rather than permitting plaintiffs an administrative avenue to appeal the village's interpretation of its code, which plaintiffs contend is erroneous."
As part of its plans, K. Hovnanian would like to build a subdivision for residents 55 and older that would be called "Four Seasons at Indian Lakes" and have 535 ranch-style houses.
The lawsuit was filed more than a year after First ILR announced the proposed redevelopment and a major renovation of the hotel along Schick Road. Because of the delay in redeveloping the golf course, First ILR has said upgrades to the hotel have been placed on indefinite hold.