La Grange Business Violates Zoning Code: Village

LA GRANGE, IL – A La Grange truck repair business is violating the village's code, with the town citing it last summer, the village says.

CTC Repair at 300 Washington Ave. has operated without a business license and a certificate of occupancy for an unknown period, according to a village memo this week. Previously, a taxi and limo company occupied the spot.

Owned by a trust, the property includes several businesses.

In October, La Grange cited the business. It was six weeks after the property's owner, the Beverly Christensen Trust, sued the village.

The litigation's purpose is unknown. On Oct. 10, a Cook County judge threw out the lawsuit. The trust appealed.

In November, Village Manager Jack Knight signed a settlement with the trust to settle the litigation.

The village agreed to dismiss the citations if CTC Repair obtained the business license and certification of occupancy within four months. First, the business must get a special-use permit.

On Tuesday, the Plan Commission is set to review the permit request. Then it goes to the Village Board.

Last March, a similar agreement with the Christensen Trust, represented by Tadd Christenson, received the board's approval.

Asked why the newer agreement did not go through the board, Knight said it involved an administrative adjudication rather than a lawsuit.

"Under the provisions provided for in administrative adjudication, Village staff has the authority to agree not to further prosecute a code violation. (Similar to a police officer using discretion to give a motorist a warning instead of writing a citation)," Knight said in an email. "The Village agreed to withdraw the code citation in exchange for the obligations agreed to by CTC."

In the older case, the agreement resolved the village's 2020 lawsuit against the trust for code violations, including unlicensed businesses operating on the property, according to this week's memo.

Among other things, the agreement required the trust to provide the village with a list of tenants. In return, the village agreed to refrain from taking action until Sept. 1 for tenants' failure to obtain business licenses and certificates.

CTC Repair applied for a business license in June, but was denied because it failed to seek a special-use permit.

In a Jan. 26 letter, Dusan Vukovic of CTC Repair made the case for a permit, indicating that the business is not disruptive.

He said CTC runs a commercial mechanic shop, exclusively serving its own company-owned fleet.

"This includes only our box trucks, delivery trucks, and semi-tractors," Vukovic said. "We do not accept outside customers, do not perform public repairs, and do not generate any customer traffic. There are no trailers involved in our operations and no trailer repair or storage occurs on site."

The business has one full-time employee, he said.

"Any occasional assistance does not increase traffic or parking demand," he said.

The Plan Commission meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Village Hall.