UPDATE - Sun. Aug. 1 at 9:30 p.m.
Click here to read a summary of the lawsuits and, if you choose, view PDF copies of the actual complaints.
The Village of La Grange and three community leaders face two separate federal lawsuits filed earlier this month related to the denial last summer of a building permit sought by a Berwyn businessman who attempted to open a pawn shop in downtown La Grange.
One suit, filed July 13 in the U.S. District Court in Chicago by Oxford Bank & Trust and Fifth Avenue Property Management, alleges that their constitutional rights were violated when the defendants conspired to block the businessman, Andrew Grayson, from opening a pawn shop in a retail building they own and manage at 71 S La Grange Rd, located next to Village Hall.
The individuals named in that suit are Village President Elizabeth Asperger, Village Manager Robert Pilipiszyn and Michael LaPidus, former president of the La Grange Business Association.
News of the suit was reported here earlier today and was based on a story published last night by ChicagoBreakingNews.com.
This afternoon, La Grange Today learned from Grayson that he too filed a similar lawsuit on July 9, also in federal court, that includes as defendants the village and the individuals named above.
Grayson also said he believes his lawsuit targets additional persons whose names he could not recall in a phone conversation.
Grayson said his attorney, Richard Bruen, could provide additional details. An attempt this afternoon to reach Bruen by phone was not successful.
Village Manager Pilipiszyn, when shown a copy of the story published by ChicagoBreakingNews.com, would not confirm or deny its accuracy.
"I'm still going through my mail," Pilipiszyn said.
The federal lawsuit represents a change of venue for Grayson, who initially filed a lawsuit against the village last Oct. 30 in Cook County Circuit Court after the La Grange board of trustees voted unanimously in July of last year to adopt zoning changes that prohibited pawnshops, among other uses considered undesirable by the community.
Grayson already had been issued a business license by the village in May 2009 to operate his planned pawn shop, All Star Jewelry & Loan.
Village officials initially welcomed him but did an about-face when many residents and business owners opposed the pawn shop, Grayson said.
La Grange officials at the time said they had no choice but to issue Grayson a license because pawn shops were a permitted use at the time.
LaPidus, then president of the LGBA, spearheaded an effort by local merchants and other businesses to prevent the pawn shop from opening by encouraging village officials to adopt the zoning changes.
The zoning amendments adopted by the village board prohibit not only pawnshops but other uses considered out of character with a downtown that 20 years ago was run down but last year was heralded by Chicago Magazine as the region's best.
After the zoning changes became effective, the village denied Grayson a building permit.
In June 2009, as the village plan commission was about to conduct a public hearing on the proposed zoning changes, attorneys for Grayson and Fifth Avenue owner John Brannen together sought $250,000 in damages from the village and alternatively threatened to file a "likely lawsuit" if the village went forward with efforts to amend its zoning code so that pawn shops were prohibited from operating in the central business district.
Whether village officials simply rebuffed the offer, or failed to reach a settlement figure, is not publicly known. There is no public record of any settlement.
Grayson subsequently filed his lawsuit in the circuit court, suing not only the village but also Fifth Avenue Properties, whom Grayson said refused to refund money he paid toward a lease on the store.
In April, the circuit court suit was dismissed, then reinstated and eventually dropped by Grayson, according to court records available online.
"The federal court is where we need to be," Grayson said.
With Fifth Avenue Properties also filing suit against the village and LaPidus, Brannen and Grayson appear now to be on the same side once again.
Related stories from our archives:
- Pawnbroker files lawsuit against village, landlord
- Pawn shop fears gone, but shame & disappointment linger over how village officials handled the affair
- Downtown zoning changes adopted by village board almost certain to scuttle plans for pawn shop
- Listen to audio excerpts from the public hearing on the proposal to ban pawn shops from downtown
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