Winnetka homeowners sue village over new regulations on lakefront construction

Winnetka homeowners have made good on their threats against public officials in the pricey village.

A group of more than a dozen parties filed a lawsuit against the village government Thursday over a new ordinance regulating construction along its coveted lakefront. The complaint estimated that the loss in property values that could come from the new regulations could equate to damages “in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Luxury homeowners, including Bill Jackson and Mandy Day, as well as real estate agents came out hard against the ordinance at Village Hall meetings earlier this year. The village board voted unanimously to pass the new development rules in February, but the fight will not end there. It’s been a contentious battle, as many other homeowners in the village have supported the new restrictions on blufftop development.

“We told Winnetka that if they passed the ordinance, we would see them in court,” Mark L. Karasik, attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “Now we will.”

The homeowners claim the restrictions are punitive and unfounded — an overstep in regulating what they can do with their private property — but village leadership says the regulations are necessary to protect the area’s bluffs. 

“The village is disappointed that this group of residents has apparently decided to take this step, but the village remains confident in the validity of the ordinance and the fairness of the open and comprehensive process that was used to consider and adopt it,” village attorney, Peter Friedman, said in a statement Thursday.

Village staff have yet to receive a copy of the complaint, Friedman said, so they declined to comment further.

Plaintiffs allege the regulations were passed through a “legally deficient administrative process” and limit their ability to develop their private land as they see fit, according to the complaint.

The complaint centers around the village’s statement that regulating development along the bluffs is necessary on the grounds of “public health, safety and welfare.” 

Attorneys for the homeowners argue that this is irrelevant given that the regulated property is private and has been maintained responsibly by private owners. 

“The public does not own the bluffs. The public has no legal access to the bluffs,” the complaint reads. “No bluffs located in Winnetka, and certainly no bluffs on plaintiffs’ private properties have ever failed. There is no safety hazard to the public.”

Homeowners like those named in the suit are the ones who have to spend money to maintain the bluffs on their properties, so they should be free to develop as they see fit, the complaint argues. 

The regulations being imposed by the village have been widely viewed as a reaction to the public sentiment against billionaire Justin Ishbia’s massive lakefront estate that’s under construction and set to span more than 60,000 square feet and cost more than $70 million total. He assembled multiple lots along the lakefront in order to control enough land to build well beyond the typically sized Winnetka home, which was allowed under the village’s rules at the time.

The project required the temporary removal of bluffs and greenery on the development site, which infuriated some Winnetkans and would be prevented under the new rules. He has vowed to replace the steep slope as the project progresses.

The village’s current building and permitting requirements are sufficient to ensure the safety of the bluffs without the need for more restrictions, attorneys wrote in the complaint. 

Proponents of the regulations have said that most other North Shore communities have similar restrictions already in place. Opponents like @properties Christie’s International Real Estate agent Jena Radnay, however, say the less restrictive environment in Winnetka is part of the reason why its real estate market is so strong.

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