Lake County Commissioners Bonnie Carter and Suzi Schmidt Promoting abuse of local government power to bully constituents and facilitate fraud; Lake County, Illinois

FRAUD CONTINUES AT PROPERTIES/COMPLEXES ACCESSING LAKES THROUGHOUT LAKE COUNTY, ILLINOIS!   Buyers and Realtors of lake-access properties near these lakes purporting special regulations BEWARE!



At Cedar Lake, the neighboring municipality in Lake County continues to defy the clear limitations as outlined by state law 65 ILCS 5/11-13-1 later clarified in 65 ILCS 5/7-4-4, and continues to purport those with access including those who buy properties to private Cedar Lake - which is partially unincorporated - have access to a lake with special regulations, produced by ordinance 2003-06-02, 6-11-2003 (Title5, Chapter2, Section5 "MOTORBOAT REGULATIONS")  www.sterlingcodifiers.com/codebook/index.php?book_id=314



At Bangs Lake, this neighboring municipality in Lake County continues to defy the same clear limiations as outlined by state law and continues to purport those with access including those who buy properties to private Bangs Lake - which is partially unincorporated - have access to a lake with special regulations, produced by ordinance.   Chapter92 of the Village Code "Recreation Regulations"

www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll?xhitlist_q=Chapter+92&f=xhitlist&xhitlist_x=Advanced&xhitlist_s=&xhitlist_d=&xhitlist_hc=&xhitlist_xsl=xhitlist.xsl&xhitlist_vpc=first&xhitlist_sel=title%3Bpath%3Bcontent-type%3Bhome-title%3Bitem-bookmark&global=hitdoc_g_&hitdoc_g_dt=altmain-nf.htm



At Wooster Lake, though a neighboring municipality in Lake County has in 2011 rescinded it's always-illegal ordinance 05-O-27 claimed over the lake, another neighboring municipality the Village of Fox Lake still has in tact its ordinance 2001-52 requiring a developer to insert the Wooster Lake covenants into a development's/association's Declaration - where that ordinance remains recorded at Lake County Recorder of Deeds, and where the covenants themselves remain recorded at the Lake County Recorder of Deeds, purporting those who purchase lake-access properties access to a lake with special regulations.  The covenants are also still advertised on the web at another development/association. 

  www.tanneronbay.com/WLCCAcov.pdf

If local government officials in Lake County facilitating real estate fraud isn't bad enough, one should also notice this ILLEGAL form of local government to extraterritorially zone real estate promotes a trampling of the 1st and 14th Amendments outlined in the Constitution.   Anti-American.

Described in detail by expert attorneys during the legislative history of HB3441 in Springfield, IL from 2007-2008, when local officials adopting zoning ordinances to be applied beyond jurisdictional borders means the unincorporated owners of real estate being targeted at those private lakes are being deprived of due process to defend their property, a Constitutional right as clearly described in the 14th Amendment.   Deprivation of due process removes those owners' ability to exercise their 1st Amendment rights and express their disapproval of extraterritorial zoning and government regulation, designed to eliminate certain rights already defined by the Illinois Supreme Court in Beacham v. Lake Zurich Property Owners Association.

Below is a written quote from an expert attorney writing to the Governor of Illinois on behalf of HB3441 in 2008 and the 95th General Assembly:

"I write in support of the captioned House Bill (HB3441).....Briefly, the bill amends an arcane provision of the muncipal code dating back to the 1870's which granted municipalities "jurisdiction" outside their municipal boundaries up to 3 miles, over water.  The amendment (of this statute with this bill) makes it clear that this grant of general jurisdiction does not apply to municipal zoning power, which under Article 11 of the Municipal Code, is limited to property fully within the corporate boundaries of the municipality.  While this concept seems rather rudimentary, actions of certain municipalities (prompted by certain Lake County officials) made it clear that the language of the statute needed to be addressed.....Section 11-13-1 of the modern Illinois Municipal Code (65 ILCS 5/11-13-1) provides municipalities with the statutory basis of all municipal powers, including the power to regulate the use of private property - zoning.  That section clearly prohibits municipalites from exercising zoning power outside the corporate limits of the municipality if the county in which the municipality is situated has adopted a zoning ordinance.  Specifically, Section 5/11-13-1 provides, in pertinent part: "....No municipality shall exercise any power set forth in this Division 13 outside the corporate limits thereof, if the county in which such municipality is situated has adopted "An Act in relation to county zoning'.  Since every county in the state has adopted zoning ordinances, no Illinois municipality (including in Lake County, IL) may regulate the use of private property outside its corporate limits.

The statutory scheme set out in Section 11 makes obvious sense.  Without such prohibition, numerous municipalities abutting an unincorporated parcel could pass conflicting zoning ordinances.  However, notwithstanding the aforementioned prohibition, certain municipalities in Lake County (at the prompting of certain Lake County officials) have attempted to regulate the use of privately owned lakes which, while outside their corporate limits in unincorporated Lake County, abut their boundaries.  The towns have invoked the "three mile, over water statute" as the basis for their authority to regulate the use of the private lake property outside their municipal boundaries.  The local officials argue that the "jurisdiction" granted in Section 7-4-4 includes the power to zone.   The Illinois courts have already addressed the apparent conflict between a general grant of jurisdiction to a municipality and an explicit limitation on the exercise of municipal authority.  In County of Will v. City of Naperville, 266 Ill. App. 3d 662, 589 N.E.2d 1090, 1992, the court found that a general grant of extraterritorial jurisdiction is general in nature and does not over-ride a specific limitation on the exercise of muncipal zoning power mandating that the municipality may only zone property within its boundaries......the attempt to regulate property outside a village's boundary is, at best, bad government.  The unincorporated landowner need not be notified of the effort to regulate his property because such notice only goes to residents of the village in question.  Even if he hears of the effort (to regulate his private property) anecdotally, he has no voice.  He certainly can't express himself at the ballot box - he's not a resident of the village attempting to regulate his property.  Without Article 11 prohibition against extraterritorial zoning, he would be entirely disenfranchised."

The ruling was made by the Illinois Courts in 1992, 20 years ago!

It's sad the law needed to be clarified by the state legislature in 2008 to tyrannical Lake County officials, but it was necessary, as proven by the Lake County politicians' own illegal actions. 

Thumbing their noses at the state clarification, these local politicians in Lake County today continue to disregard state laws and their citizen's Constitutional rights.   With some of these extraterritorial zoning ordinances still in tact, the local politicians in Lake County continue to advocate this UnAmerican form of government, clarified in 2008 by the Illinois state legislature to be illegal.

It's easy to say the Lake County State's Attorney has "checked out", but this real estate fraud and illegal local goverment in Lake County has been going on for decades.  It goes unchecked in Lake County where the politicians are "above the law" simplybecause Lake County law enforcement refuses to enforce our laws against the politically-connected crooks.

Some Lake County Commissioners are facilitating the real estate fraud by using unqualified, unlicensed Lake County employees to act and legally opine - falsely and unlawfully- as if they are attorneys.

Without the consent of or knowledge by the legal owners of Wooster Lake, Bonnie Thomson Carter in 2005 covertly had Mark Pfister of the Lake County Health Department fax a false legal interpretation of state statute to various municipal officials, falsely indicating to them they could do what Bonnie Carter wanted: zone extraterritorially over a private lake.   Bonnie Carter was successful getting her lie morphed into an ordinance, despite its illegality and despite a village's attorney advising village officials to "not proceed" with Bonnie Carter's and Mark Pfister's interpretation of state law.  Mark Pfister is a Lake County employee whose salary is paid for by the tax payers.  Mark Pfister is a biologist.  Like Bonnie Carter, Mark Pfister does not have a license to practice law.

http://lakecountyil.gov/Health/want/Documents/Lakes/Cedar%20report.pdf

Mark Pfister has unbelievably documented his own production of false legal opinions on behalf of elected public officials, paid for by Lake County tax payers.  In 2003, on page 6 of his report of private Cedar Lake, Biologist Mark Pfister falsely opined the following on private Cedar Lake where Commissioner Suzi Schmidt not only resides in the immediate area but is also known to recreate.  Pfister's 2003 Report, page 6:

     "....some residents living on the north shore have boats with engines much larger, up to 50 HP, which is illegal on Cedar Lake. According to Lake Villa ordinance, No motorboat propelled by an internal combustion engine, which has a manufacturers rating in excess of ten (10) horsepower, shall be operated on any portion of Cedar Lake or any other body of water, excluding Deep Lake, within the jurisdiction of the Village. (Ord. 2003-06-02, 6-11-2003). Even though portions of the lake bottom are privately owned, 2000 Illinois Compiled Statutes states that The corporate authorities in all municipalities have jurisdiction over all waters within or bordering upon the municipality, to the extent of 3 miles beyond the corporate limits, but not beyond the limits of the State. (5/7-4-4. Jurisdiction over waters)"

Biologist Pfister falsely claims it is "illegal" for those unincorporated, north side lake property owners to disobey the neighboring village's ordinance.   A bold-faced, documented, verifiable legal lie about real estate coming from a biologist.  A lie verified when 65 ILCS 5/7-4-4 was by expert attorneys clarified - NOT CHANGED- in 2008 to clarify this was an illegal form of local government in Lake County and all of Illinois. 

A lie or a fraud benefiting a few, at the cost of unsuspecting buyers of that real estate with lake access.

Interestingly- in what is clearly an indication of guilt- Lakes Management omits all this false, special restriction verbiage 2 years later in its 2005 report.  The omission without a correction in the 2005 Report leads people to believe the purported, private Cedar Lake's restrictions already claimed and distributed in the 2003 Report are somehow legal against the unincorporated owners of the private lake.   The fellow local officials of the nearby village continue today to purport this real estate fraud by officially keeping it on the village's Code Book of ordinances.   Ordinance 5-2-5 (C)

http://www.sterlingcodifiers.com/codebook/index.php?book_id=314

It is truly amazing these public officials in Lake County believe and act as if they are above state law.  Of course they "are" if the corrupted State's Attorney continues to turn a blind eye to all the real estate fraud and how many people have- as Bonnie Thomson Carter has said on record- "bought into" the bill of goods fabricated by local public officials.