310 ILCS 67/30

(310 ILCS 67/30)

Sec. 30. Appeal to State Housing Appeals Board.

(a) (Blank).

(b) (Blank).

(b-5) Beginning January 1, 2026, any of the following parties may file an appeal as an appellant to the State Housing Appeals Board against a non-exempt municipality if the proposed affordable housing development was denied by the municipality, or approved with conditions that in the appellant's judgment render the provision of affordable housing infeasible:

(1) the affordable housing developer of the proposed affordable housing development;

(2) a person who would be eligible to apply for residency in the proposed affordable housing development; or

(3) a housing organization whose geographic focus area includes the municipality, or county if in an unincorporated area, where the proposed affordable housing development is located.

Appeals must be filed within 45 days after the decision by the municipality. The appellant must submit information regarding why the appellant believes the affordable housing development was unfairly denied or unreasonable conditions were placed upon the tentative approval of the development. In the case of local governments that are determined by the Illinois Housing Development Authority under Section 20 to be non-exempt for the first time based on the recalculation of U.S. Census Bureau data after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly, no appellant may appeal to the State Housing Appeals Board until 6 months after a local government has been notified of its non-exempt status.

(c) Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly, the Board shall, whenever possible, render a decision on the appeal within 120 days after the appeal is filed. The Board may extend the time by which it will render a decision where circumstances outside the Board's control make it infeasible for the Board to render a decision within 120 days. In any proceeding before the Board, the appellant bears the burden of demonstrating that the proposed affordable housing development (i) has been unfairly denied or (ii) has had unreasonable conditions placed upon it by the decision of the local government.

(d) The Board shall dismiss any appeal if:

(i) the local government has adopted an affordable housing plan as defined in Section 25 of this Act and submitted that plan to the Illinois Housing Development Authority within the time frame required by this Act; and

(ii) the local government has implemented its affordable housing plan and has met its goal as established in its affordable housing plan as defined in Section 25 of this Act.

(e) The Board shall dismiss any appeal if the reason for denying the application or placing conditions upon the approval is a non-appealable local government requirement under Section 15 of this Act.

(f) The Board may affirm, reverse, or modify the conditions of, or add conditions to, a decision made by the approving authority. The decision of the Board constitutes an order directed to the approving authority and is binding on the local government.

(g) The appellate court has the exclusive jurisdiction to review decisions of the Board. Any appeal to the Appellate Court of a final ruling by the State Housing Appeals Board may be heard only in the Appellate Court for the District in which the local government involved in the appeal is located. The appellate court shall apply the "clearly erroneous" standard when reviewing such appeals. An appeal of a final ruling of the Board shall be filed within 35 days after the Board's decision and in all respects shall be in accordance with Section 3-113 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(Source: P.A. 103-487, eff. 1-1-24.)