District 155 Board: Bleachers Can Come Down

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The District 155 School Board on Wednesday vote 5-2 in favor of allowing the controversial bleachers at Crystal Lake South High School be torn down, the Northwest Herald reports.

McHenry County Judge Michael Chmiel ordered the bleachers be torn down last year but that decision was stayed as the controversial issue wound its way through the court system, ultimately landing in the hands of the Illinois Supreme Court. The Illinois Supreme Court last week sided with the city, which has contended that zoning laws prohibited the bleachers from being constructed in the first place, the Daily Herald reports.

The school district moving forward with the $233,000 bid to have the bleachers torn down will depend on whether a McHenry County judge moves forward with the tear down order and if talks between nearby property owners and the city fail to come up with an alternative plan, according to the Northwest Herald.

The $1.2 million bleachers at Crystal Lake South have towered over a nearby subdivision and angered neighbors since 2013. In regards to building the bleachers without zoning approval, the school district has said school land is exempt from city zoning laws.

“As a home rule municipality, the city has the power to regulate land use within its jurisdiction through zoning. There is no statute which exempts school district property from the exercise of the city’s zoning laws,” according to the Supreme Court ruling Thursday.

The school district was “disappointed” with the Supreme Court’s decision, ” District 155 Board of Education President Ted Wagner said following the Supreme Court ruling.

“Community High School District 155 followed the required Illinois School Code process, and obtained all required permits from the Regional County Superintendent in planning and constructing the bleachers at Crystal Lake South High School,” he said.

• You can read the full statement from the school district here.

Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley blasted District 155 following the Supreme Court’s decision for not adhering to the city’s zoning process or working with residents living near the bleachers.

“From the outset, the City had requested District 155 to follow the zoning process and to engage the neighbors inorder to determine how the seating needs at Crystal Lake South could be addressed without impinging on the rights of its neighbors,” said Shepley. “District 155 disdained the City’s requests, and instead dragged the City, the neighbors, and the community into this legal odyssey. And after wasting the money on the bleachers and all the legal fees, what have we learned? That District 155 should have gone through the City’s zoning process.”