Lawsuit filed to block Glen Ellyn apartment complex at Giesche site

Updated 4/6 with statement from the village

An embattled apartment development in downtown Glen Ellyn is facing a lawsuit.

Neighbors and a nonprofit preservation group are suing the village and developers in an effort to block construction of Apex 400, a five-story apartment building that would loom over a historic stretch of Main Street on the site of the former Giesche Shoes store and a village-owned parking lot.

Filed Friday in DuPage County circuit court, the lawsuit claims the village granted an “illegal and incomplete” special-use permit “following months of deception and obfuscation of plans.”

The lawsuit will likely galvanize project opponents who plan to stage a downtown rally this morning and deliver speeches decrying the height and bulk of the development.

“The scale of the project will immediately and drastically change the essential character of downtown Glen Ellyn, but it will irreparably harm the south downtown area by imposing a massive building as long as a football field with a height of 61 (to) 65 feet at what is already one of the highest ground elevations in the area,” the lawsuit states.

The complaint comes after the village issued a stop-work order at the Giesche site and a Diocese of Joliet parcel to the west. Neighbors also are raising safety concerns about reports of asbestos removal in an area within walking distance of St. Petronille School.

The lawsuit represents another legal blow to the village weeks after losing a two-year court battle over a gas station project at another gateway to Glen Ellyn.

Attorneys Mark Daniel and Daniel Shapiro filed the 70-page complaint Friday on behalf of neighboring property owners on Hillside Avenue and Citizens for Glen Ellyn Preservation, respectively. Shapiro also represented neighbors who prevailed in their lawsuit against the village and the gas station developers.

Village Manager Mark Franz and Village Attorney Greg Mathews did not respond to requests for comment. The village board will vote Monday on the project's final planned unit development.

The village issued a statement Saturday in response to the lawsuit.

“The village has been made aware of the complaint and we believe that the appropriate process has been followed for the proposed development,” the statement read. “Village officials are, in fact, scheduled to consider the final planned unit development application on Monday...Officials will evaluate the complaint which has been filed and determine the best course of action.”

The Apex 400 lawsuit contends that the village acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in approving the special-use permit in part because “independent special uses are required” for several components of the project, including the public and private parking garage.

The lawsuit claims developers did not provide drawings, studies or elevations that would have showed the scale of the building — standing as tall as 61 to 65 feet from the ground — in relationship to its surroundings downtown or sightlines from other areas.

“Without these required drawings, studies, elevations, and daily operating details, the public was unable to evaluate and comment on the project at the plan commission meeting, let alone cross-examine witnesses” — failures that led to “violations of the municipal code, the village's own zoning ordinance and the public's due process rights,” the lawsuit alleges.

Project opponents, meanwhile, will stage the rally at 10 a.m. with Mike Formento, a former village president and chamber of commerce executive director, acting as the master of ceremonies.

“The height of the building is overpowering,” Formento said. “When you're at 64 feet tall and 300 feet wide, it becomes a very monster building, and that's not what we're looking for in the gateway to our community. We're looking at something that should be inviting and attractive and consistent with the character of the central business district.”

Formento and members of “Save Main,” a group of about 40 core members who have distributed more than 400 yard-signs around town, say they're pushing for “responsible” redevelopment of the property.

“We are absolutely, wholeheartedly opposed to the particular development,” said Kim Eichenauer, who lives near downtown. “We are committed to working closely with the village and the community to find the right development. It is our ultimate goal to have a development, a great development, in that place, and we don't believe our mission is completed until that happens.”

The lawsuit also lists as defendants St. Petronille Parish and Bishop Daniel Conlon of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet as the successor trustee of the Roman Catholic Diocese Trust, the entity that owns the parish property to the west of the redevelopment.

Demolition work began at both parcels even though no demolition permit was issued and no written notification was provided to the village or nearby property owners, according to the lawsuit.

The diocese “engaged in the removal of siding and other materials from the exterior of its rectory” for several days last month until the neighboring owner of an office building raised complaints with the village about demolition debris and waste, the lawsuit states.

“On information and belief arising from observations of workers in protective gear during at least one day of work on the Diocese Parcel” as well as discussions between properties owners and village staff, “work at both the Diocese parcel and the 400 Main parcel involved the removal of asbestos containing materials,” the lawsuit claims.

A diocese spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment Friday.

'Save Main' rally

When: 10 a.m. today

Where: 498 Hillside Ave., Glen Ellyn

Who: Organized by 'Save Main,' a group opposing a planned apartment complex at the site of the former Giesche Shoes store and a village parking lot

Details: Residents and business owners will deliver speeches during the rally