4th & Long For Ryan Field Lawsuit: Judge Out Tosses 3 Of 4 Counts Of Neighbors' Complaint

CHICAGO — A Cook County judge delivered an early victory to attorneys for the city of Evanston and Northwestern University in their legal battle with neighbors over stadium concerts at Ryan Field.

Cook County Circuit Judge Pamela Meyerson on Friday granted a motion to dismiss three out of four counts of the complaint filed against the city last year by a group of about a dozen Evanston and Wilmette residents and a local nonprofit that lobbied against the City Council's approval of the $800 million Rebuild Ryan Field plan.

Each of those counts alleged that the Nov. 20, 2023, Evanston City Council vote, which granted approval to zoning code changes requested by Northwestern, was invalid — but under three different legal theories.

Mayor Daniel Biss cast the tie-breaking fifth vote due to the recusal of Northwestern employee Ald. Juan Geracaris, but one dismissed lawsuit argued that city code actually requires six votes for a zoning code amendment under the theory that the City Council should be treated as 10 people.

Another count claimed the city should have treated the university's request as a change to the zoning map, a "map amendment," rather than just the permitted uses in an area of a map, or "text amendment," which would have triggered a seven-vote requirement under city rules. And the third dismissed count suggested that state law required the amendment be approved with six votes because nearby property owners had officially filed protests against the changes.

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Northwestern requested to intervene in the case in February, shortly after it began deconstructing the 1926-built structure long known as Dyche Stadium. Its attorneys from the firm DLA Piper argued the university has substantial interests at stake that it needed to defend, and Meyerson granted their request.

The judge found that Northwestern had followed its own rules, though she acknowledged it did not really matter.

"This court cannot handle matters which, in effect, are attempts to overrule decisions of a legislative body based upon failure to follow the requirements imposed by that legislative body upon itself," Meyerson ruled.

That's because Illinois courts have long established that units of government with home rule authority have broad discretion to follow — or break — their own rules, ordinances or laws, as long as they do not violate peoples' constitutional rights or state or federal laws in the process.

Meyerson found the complaint from the residents and the Most Livable City Association boiled down to allegations that the City Council failed to follow its own rules, and since it does not include any other significant facts, it should be dismissed for failure to state a claim.

"Zoning is fully within the province of a municipality's home rule authority," the judge ruled, dismissing the idea that the state law providing for property owner protests should apply in Evanston's case.

All three counts have been dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be filed in a new form.

"It does not appear that an amendment could cure the defects," Meyerson said.

The judge granted the city's motion to toss out the residents' request for damages due to Evanston's immunity as a local government under state law.

She struck down the plaintiffs' request for attorney's fees and held each party responsible for their own fees, since there was no statute or agreement providing for attorney's fees in this type of case.

And Meyerson also granted the city's request to strike the request for a jury trial, since the only remaining issue seeks a declaratory judgment and injunction, which do not traditionally require a jury trial.

Neither Northwestern nor Evanston sought to dismiss the first count of the neighbors' complaint, which alleges the city arbitrarily and capriciously approved the zoning change and violated their substantive and procedural due process rights.

Litigation over that count, which has already been answered by the city, can now proceed to written discovery.

Meyerson gave attorneys until May 3 to make their requests and scheduled a status hearing in the case for June 26.

Read more:

• 'Backroom Deal' Led To Illegal Vote To Rezone Ryan Field In Evanston, Lawsuit Alleges
• Instead Of Suing Evanston Over Ryan Field Zoning, Wilmette Cuts Deal
• Ready To Rock At Ryan Field: Plan For Concerts At New Football Stadium Approved