Attorneys for a group of residents who oppose efforts by the Park District of La Grange to sell a portion of Gordon Park for private development said last week they plan to appeal an Oct. 8 ruling by a Cook County circuit court judge that approved the Park District's sale petition.
To set the stage for an appeal, the La Grange Friends of the Park Nov. 8 filed a post-trial motion asking Judge Susan Fox Gillis to reconsider her ruling, Tom Beyer, one of three attorneys representing the group, said.
Click here to read a PDF copy of the Friends' post-trial motion,
Beyer said he does not expect Gillis to vacate her judgment. But giving a judge an opportunity to reverse or amend her ruling is preferred by the Illinois Appellate Court, he said.
The 15-page post-trial motion cites five reasons the Friends believe Judge Gillis erred in granting the Park District's request to sell 2.82 acres of Gordon Park. Mostly, it is a reiteration of arguments made by the Friends' attorneys that were rejected by the judge during the course of the 18-month hearing, which resulted in a four-day trial in early October.
"There's nothing earth-shatteringly different [in the post-trial motion] from what we already argued," Beyer said.
Beyer said the decision to pursue an appeal in the case was made at a meeting in late September that was attended by several of the nearly two dozen residents who comprise the Friends.
Beyer said Judge Gillis has scheduled a hearing on the post-trial motion for Dec. 3.
As of Wednesday, the Park District had not yet filed a response, he said.
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