La Grange Improperly Denies Zoning Request: Architect

LA GRANGE, IL – La Grange failed to follow its zoning code when it denied a resident's request for plumbing in a detached garage, a longtime local architect contends.

Architect Tim Trompeter, who has lived in La Grange for nearly four decades, sent a letter to village officials in February about his client's situation.

He followed up with an email, including his letter, to the Village Board in August.

The village told Trompeter that it won't allow his client in the 300 block of South Waiola Avenue to have plumbing in a detached garage because it "may increase the likelihood of illegal habitation."

The village code bars people from living in detached garages, but it does not expressly prohibit plumbing in such structures.

Trompeter said his client's detached garage would not be living space.

Trompeter said the village code on garages has remained the same for a quarter century. Under the regulations, the village approved plumbing for Trompeter-designed detached garages in five cases from 2008 to 2010. One was on Waiola Avenue.

In November 2021, the village said its attorney a few years ago interpreted the code to allow offices or other such spaces in detached garages, but there could be no plumbing, bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms.

All such applications for plumbing and living spaces have been denied since 2017, the village said.

In his February letter, Trompeter disagreed with the village's argument.

"You can have the Village Attorney give you his interpretation, but if he can't quote from the Zoning Code, it will have no Legal Bearing as well," Trompeter wrote.

If the fear of illegal habitation is so great, he said, then the village should change its zoning code to include the plumbing prohibition.

He said his client asked him to remove the plumbing request, so construction could start. That was after a five-month process, he said.

In an emailed response in August, Trustee Lou Gale told Trompeter he was willing to make the code clear and update it to match the times.

"I think there's an appetite to make some improvements," he said.

In an email, Trustee Beth Augustine said she was familiar with the issue and it was of particular interest to her. She asked to meet with Trompeter.

She mentioned the architect's letter at the Aug. 22 Village Board meeting, which prompted Patch to file a public records request for the document.

Augustine said the village should look at allowing people to include offices and other such spaces in detached garages, particularly with more people working remotely.

"There are a lot of communities revisiting that," she said.

In his February letter, Trompeter asked the full Village Board to discuss the issue. That has not happened.

In an interview last week, Trompeter said he still wanted village officials to address the topic.

Patch asked Charity Jones, the village's interim manager, whether she wanted to comment.

She said that because Trompeter wrote the letter in February, it would be inappropriate for her to comment now.

As the village's community development director, Jones oversees zoning.