Horse boarding rules already facing legal challenge

Barrington Hills is being sued by a group of residents who want the village to tear up the new horse boarding rules just weeks after they were finally approved.

The new rules went into effect after a majority of village board members voted to overturn Village President Marty McLaughlin's veto on February 23. The rules allow one boarded horse per acre on properties smaller than 10 acres and two horses per acre for larger properties.

The suit's plaintiffs, Barrington Hills residents James Drury, Jack Reich and James O'Donnell have long been engaged in a legal dispute with their neighbor Benjamin LeCompte, who operates Oakwood Farms, a horse boarding operation.

The plaintiffs claim that the village's new horse boarding rules were created to benefit LeCompte's business and opens the door for other residents to start similar ventures.

In January, when McLaughlin vetoed the rules that are now being challenged, he stated that he had heard repeated threats of litigation against the village should the rules be established.

“The temporary village attorney and special counsel has provided a clear opinion as to the jeopardy a change in the law can cause,” McLaughlin said in his veto statement. “Yet, the majority of the board seems not to care.”

When McLaughlin's veto was overturned, Trustee Joe Messer, who voted in favor of the rules, said he was confident the rules would withstand any legal challenge. Messer had not changed his stance on Monday.

“The village is going to vigorously defend this lawsuit and I believe it has no merit,” Messer said.

The new lawsuit claims that the horse boarding rules should be thrown out because three trustees — Messer, Karen Selman and Patty Meroni — accepted $15,000 in campaign donations from LeCompte in 2011. The candidates returned the donations but received a warning from the State Board of Elections after it was discovered that LeCompte had not been properly identified as the original source of the funds. LeCompte later made the $15,000 donation to the candidates' Save 5 Acres slate, not to the individual candidates.

The board called a special meeting Monday night to select an attorney to represent the village. After an hour and fifteen minutes in closed session, McLaughlin said the board would spend the next few weeks evaluating the best option to defend the village.

McLaughlin said they would have more information on that decision at the board's next regular meeting on March 30.