Park Ridge family says they’ll go to court to keep $26,300 tree house

By Jean Lotus Staff Reporter

 

The play structure consists of a raised deck and tree fort, with two slides leading into a swimming pool.

The play structure consists of a raised deck and tree fort, with two slides leading into a swimming pool.

A Park Ridge couple said they’ve decided to go to court to keep their $26,300 tree house, which the Zoning Board of Appeals said must come down.

“We are going to submit a complaint in the Circuit Court of Cook County for Administrative Review,” said Joe Solomon in an email.

Solomon and his wife, Margaret, lost an appeal Jan. 28 to keep the play structure they built for their two children, ages 3 and 1, in Margaret’s parents’ yard in the 900 block of North Western Avenue.

The Solomons say they’re the victims of a regime change in the zoning department at Park Ridge City Hall.

“In 2014, we were initially told we didn’t need a permit for a tree house,” Margaret Solomon said.

The play structure consists of a raised deck and tree fort, with two slides leading into a swimming pool. Responding to a neighbor’s complaint, the Solomons said previous Park Ridge Zoning Coordinator Ed Cage issued a permit, asked them to submit an architectural drawing and to lower the structure and move it five feet from the lot line.

“On Nov. 10, 2014 we got [an email] for final approval with modifications, “ Joe Solomon said.

Enter Park Ridge’s new zoning coordinator, Howard Coppari. Cage has moved on to the position of community development director for the City of Wood Dale.

The Solomons got a letter in August 2015 re-characterizing the tree house as a shed with a raised deck.

“Both shed and deck must be removed,” Coppari wrote to the Solomons.

Coppari did not respond to requests for comment, but in a July inspection report posted on the Park Ridge website he calls it a “monstrosity of a structure” that “overwhelms their neighbor’s sense of privacy and comfort.

“I will not sign off on anything that is both hulking and gigantic,” he wrote.

The Solomons said their appeal of the administrator’s decision at the Jan. 28 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting was eye-opening.

“[The building department] seems to have lost all electronic correspondence and all the drawings regarding the tree house,” Joe Solomon said.

was deemed “suspicious.”

“One person said the permit could have been photoshopped,” she added.

The Solomons will wait until the ZBA rules on their appeal Feb. 25.

“Once the ZBA issues its decision and findings of fact … the Solomon’s have 35 days to file a complaint in the Circuit Court of Cook County for Administrative Review,” emailed their attorney, Alan Stefaniak. “The court will review and make a determination if the ZBA decision should be affirmed or reversed.”

Joe Solomon stresses this isn’t about the neighbors.

“Even though we were not on good terms with neighbors, I’m more upset with the village that they can issue a permit and pretend that it doesn’t exist,” he said.

 

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— Park Ridge family says they’ll go to court to keep $26,300 tree house —