From Chicago Tribune Dot Com

La Grange faces federal lawsuit over pawnshop denial
July 29, 2010|By Art Barnum, Tribune Reporter

The village of La Grange and three community leaders have been sued in federal court by the bank and property management firm that worked unsuccessfully with a Berwyn businessman to open a pawn shop in downtown La Grange last year.

Oxford Bank and Trust, with corporate offices in Oak Brook, and Fifth Avenue Property Management, with corporate offices in California, filed the lawsuit earlier this month is U.S. District Court in Chicago.

They claim in the suit that their constitutional rights were violated when the village refused to issue Andrew Grayson a building permit and amended a zoning ordinance to exclude pawnshops following the public outcry that arose after the village had initially granted him a business license to operate All-Star Jewelry & Loan. The shop would have been in a building at 71 S. La Grange Road, next to the Village Hall.

The lawsuit contends that Village President Elizabeth Asperger; Village Manager Robert Pilipiszyn; and Michael LaPidus, former president of the La Grange Business Association, conspired against the proposed pawn shop operation and therefore cost the two business enterprises proceeds. The building remains unoccupied.

A lawsuit against the village last year in Cook County Circuit Court by Grayson was dismissed.

The federal lawsuit is seeking in excess of $75,000 for all monetary losses suffered by the two firms and punitive damages.

Attorneys for the village and the businesses could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

abarnum@tribune.com