AURORA, IL, July 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On July 1, the City of Aurora quietly issued a Final Certificate of Occupancy to the 22,000-square-foot Planned Parenthood facility, which has been mired in controversy since July of last year. Unlike the now-expired Temporary Certificate of Occupancy under which the facility had been operating, the Final Certificate would grant permanent legal status to the facility.
In response, yesterday, July 21, lawyers from the Thomas More Society of Chicago filed appeals to both the Aurora Building Code Board of Appeals and the Zoning Board of Appeals on behalf of Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood and neighboring residents of the facility.
The appellants claim that the City continues to refuse to apply the correct ordinance to Planned Parenthood, even after the City conceded that its outside attorneys applied the wrong ordinance during their legal review in September of last year. The facility has been dogged by claims that Planned Parenthood’s subsidiary, Gemini Office Development, falsified permit applications, obtained an invalid building permit, had invalid building inspections, and violated numerous Aurora laws.
“Planned Parenthood has made a mockery of Aurora’s development process,” states Peter Breen, attorney for the Thomas More Society. “They have brazenly committed fraud against the city and have strong-armed their illegal non-profit ‘business’ into the backyards of citizens who were given no voice to oppose the building of this Wal-Mart sized abortion facility. It is time for the ‘City of Lights’ to shine a harsh light on Planned Parenthood’s dirty tactics.”
These appeals open a new front in the legal battle over the Planned Parenthood facility, including new attacks under the Aurora Building Code against the facility’s applications, inspections, and permits. Thomas More Society attorneys previously-filed a nine-count lawsuit, which the City unsuccessfully tried to remove to federal court and have dismissed. The federal court remanded the suit to state court in DuPage County, where the parties are awaiting a status date.