'Do Not Be Scared,' Elmhurst Officials Told

Elmhurst IL

14 September, 2021

3:49 PM

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ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst attorney Mark Daniel was watching football at Riley's Gathering Place on Saturday when he said he picked up information about the City Council. "I've heard some of the folks on the council are scared of a lawsuit if it denies the application in the case I'm involved in," Daniel told the council Monday. "Please do not be scared." He was referring to the proposal by Roberto's Ristorante on Spring Road for two parking lots. He represents neighbors who are opposed to the project. They say it's too close to their houses and hurts the residential character of the neighborhood. "If you deny the project, you will do it for the right reasons, and it will stand up in court," he said. Then he hinted about litigation the other way. "In my view, it's far better to deny the project rather than to put your neighbors and residents and voters and some of the businesses on Spring Road to the test of filing their own lawsuit," Daniel said. Daniel was speaking before a council session in which the aldermen were to hear a presentation on general zoning issues. Mayor Scott Levin advised the council not to talk about specific cases. Aldermen followed that instruction. Late in the 1½-hour meeting, Alderwoman Noel Talluto started asking about the basis on which people could sue the city over zoning decisions. A city attorney became uncomfortable after answering a few of her questions. "I'm a little concerned about going any further with this discussion to the extent that they may have other applications and some other matters that we're dealing with, and I would suggest that we go away from this line of questioning at this point," he said. Mayor Scott Levin said the council would follow that advice. See Patch's related story: Mark Daniel criticizes mayor's role in the Roberto's matter. Both the mayor and the attorney for Roberto's responded.