County of Cook v. John Sexton Contractors Co.

This litigation arose out of the efforts of John Sexton Contractors Company (Sexton) to locate and operate a sanitary landfill on an 85-acre tract of land in an unincorporated portion of Cook. County (County). On January 19, 1976, the County comprehensively amended its zoning ordinance pursuant to its home rule power under the 1970 Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. VII, sec. 6). Prior to the amendment, the subject property had been zoned R — 3, single-family district. Under the amendment, the subject property was zoned R — 4, single-family district. The present ordinance allows…