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Hearing officer recommends denial of First Baptist Church variation requests, citing lack of legal argument
Summary
DuPage County zoning hearing officer Robert Cartel recommended denying two variation requests filed by First Baptist Church (case 26-030), saying the petition relied on financial need rather than the legal hardship or unique circumstance required for variation relief.
Robert Cartel, the DuPage County zoning hearing officer, recommended denial of two variation requests in case 26-030 concerning the First Baptist Church. Cartel said petitioners "failed to make any argument associated with the requested zoning relief" beyond asserting a financial need tied to selling the property and that financial considerations alone do not satisfy the variation standards.
Cartel said he was sympathetic to the congregation but that sympathy is not a permissible legal basis for relief: "I'm sympathetic to this congregation. You know, I wish them well, but I'm not permitted to consider the identity of the petitioner or how sympathetic their case is," he said as he announced his recommendation to deny and placed that recommendation in the record for transmission to the county development committee.
