Muscarello v. Winnebago County Board

Patricia Muscarello (plaintiff) owned three tracts of land zoned for agricultural use in Winnebago County, Illinois (the county). In 2009, the county amended a zoning ordinance to change the procedure by which property owners could obtain permits to build wind farms. The changes made obtaining a permit easier. Muscarello was opposed to wind farms, and she brought an action against the county board, the county zoning board of appeals, some county officials, and several wind-farm companies (defendants) to challenge the 2009 ordinance. Muscarello asserted numerous claims under the United States and Illinois Constitutions, including that the 2009 ordinance constituted a taking of Muscarello’s property and deprived her of her property without due process of law. Muscarello claimed that if a wind farm were allowed on adjacent land, Muscarello’s properties would be harmed and lose value. Muscarello alleged that the wind farm could create severe noise, increase shadow flicker, throw ice from spinning windmill blades, potentially throw the windmill blades themselves, interfere with wireless communications, increase electromagnetic radiation, prevent crop-dusting operations, and reduce the downwind wind speed. When Muscarello brought her action, no one had yet applied for a permit to build a wind farm in the county under the 2009 ordinance. Moreover, Muscarello did not live on any of the allegedly affected properties, and whether Muscarello conducted any agricultural activities on the properties was unclear. However, Muscarello asserted that she knew of a wind farm that a company wanted to build near one of her properties and that a wind company had approached Muscarello to purchase a wind easement. The district court dismissed Muscarello’s complaint for failure to state a claim, and Muscarello appealed.