[Pflienews] PharmFacts E-News Update: Non-profit PP mega-clinic fails to meet zoning

Tue Jan 8 19:07:16 MST 2008

*PharmFacts E-News Update -- 8 Jan 2008 AD #3

*
WorldNetDaily

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59547

January 7, 2008

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH

*Non-profit mega-clinic fails to meet zoning

*Land used by Planned Parenthood requires tax-paying for-profit operation

By Bob Unruh
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com

A controversial Planned Parenthood mega-clinic in Aurora, Ill., that was 
built by a front company with the acronym GOD apparently is facing an 
uncertain future after city officials admitted it was built under the 
wrong zoning requirements, and met demands that were much less strict 
than the zoning actually in force for the land where the 
22,000-square-foot building sits.

Peter Breen, a lawyer working with the team assembled by the Thomas More 
Society to handle the case, said there are several issues the city will 
need to address at a hearing scheduled Monday, including the fact the 
land's zoning requires a for-profit corporation, while Planned 
Parenthood itself is non-profit, and through that status obtained more 
than $8 million in state bonds to build the project.

The major error in the project was confirmed by the city recently, when 
officials started referring to ordinance 093-124 rather than to 093-123, 
"which had expired and which they had been citing previously," the law 
center said.

"In addition, the city cited the wrong ordinance as a basis for 
favorable zoning determinations in a pair of investigations undertaken 
by two touted zoning experts, private lawyers acting on behalf of the 
city, which led to Mayor Tom Weisner announcing the renewal of Planned 
Parenthood's temporary occupancy permit..." the center said.

"If the proper ordinance had been cited and complied with, Planned 
Parenthood should never have opened," the group said.

The project erupted into controversy when officials for a company 
reportedly operating as Gemini Office Development (GOD), admitted they 
were a front for Planned Parenthood and confirmed they concealed with 
identity in order to prevent the public from knowing in advance about 
the huge abortion business they were opening in Aurora.

(Story continues below)

The opening of the facility was held up several weeks, from September to 
October, for an investigation into deceptions by the abortion provider 
during the permitting and construction process, but the mayor eventually 
concluded there was no legal reason for the abortion business not to open.

Mayor Tom Weisner said although the company was not "forthright," there 
were no legal grounds to keep it shut.

The project had been described as an office building throughout its 
permitting process. However, as WND columnist Jill Stanek reported, a 
pro-life construction worker on the project became suspicious of the 
bulletproof glass and surgical suites, components not routine in an 
office building.

It was soon outed as an abortion facility, prompting protests and 
outrage from pro-life community members who said, as Stanek phrased it, 
"If citizens may lie to occupancy permit officials, may they also lie to 
police officers? Or at city council meetings? Where will Aurora draw the 
line between permissible and impermissible lies?"

"At a minimum, the city of Aurora should launch an official and legal 
investigation, questioning the applicant and tenant under oath about 
statements on applications and in meetings," she said. "If the city does 
not, is something more going on, a cover-up? Did some officials know 
that the public documents filed and statements made by the applicant 
were false? Did some officials know the tenant was to be an abortion 
provider, but then conspired with Gemini to keep it quiet to avoid 
politically unfavorable publicity?"

Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, said the deception probably 
was the result of two issues: the fact that a Planned Parenthood 
clinic's construction in Austin, Texas, earlier was delayed for months 
when local contractors refused to work on the project, and the general 
atmosphere that accompanies abortion businesses.

"What do you get when you get an abortion facility? Not only do you get 
dead children, the blight and underworld that comes along with that, but 
you also get thousands upon thousands of pro-lifers who adorn the 
streets with pictures of aborted children," he told WND. "I don't think 
either is good for a community."

The tactic, however, is not isolated to the Illinois location. Newman 
said the same scenario developed with Denver, where Planned Parenthood 
recently purchased a building without announcing its presence.

"The bottom line is nobody wants an abortion facility in their 
community. It's kind of like a toxic waste dump," he said.

Tom Brejcha, of the Thomas More Society, said city officials made a 
major mistake in allowing the project and are trying to keep it out of 
the public eye. "The citizens of Aurora should be questioning what their 
civic leaders are trying to cover up," he said.

Part of the cover-up by Planned Parenthood was its application for 
building permission for the ostensibly "for-profit" GOD project. But 
Breen told WND the zoning for the location is "B-B," which is "Business 
Boulevard," and does not allow non-profit health-related facilities 
under any circumstances.

Planned Parenthood of the Chicago area is incorporated as a non-profit, 
and in that status used more than $8 million in state bond funding 
mechanisms for the facility, officials said.

"By pretending to be building a taxpaying, for profit medical facility, 
GOD and Planned Parenthood evaded zoning laws that Aurora purports to 
enforce against its citizens, fairly and even-handedly," the center said.

"Planned Parenthood has defied Aurora's, laws, and the city's current 
administration seems to be determined to let them get away with it," 
said Brejcha. "They have allowed a tax-exempt, non-profit abortion 
facility to come into Aurora illegally, without the knowledge or 
informed consent of the public and without the same scrutiny Aurora 
citizens would receive for putting up a gazebo in their backyard."

Breen said the facility still is operating under a temporary certificate 
of occupancy, even though it doesn't qualify for that under regulations 
because of the pending protest of its operation.

He also said the zoning issue affects the project site in other ways 
that may not be as easy to resolve as the for-profit, non-profit issue. 
For example, the zoning rules require plans for the property be given 
city council approval, which was not obtained before construction, and a 
filing of preliminary plans, which also wasn't done.

The project also fails to comply with the 35-foot setback requirements 
and parking-related minimums under its city zoning. The zoning 
calculations require 95 oversized parking spaces for a building of that 
size, and there exists space for only 71, Breen said.

He said besides the issues over the zoning violations, the center is 
seeking to subpoena all relevant city officials for depositions in the 
case, and is seeking for the city to enforce its regulations regarding 
temporary certificates of occupancy, which would mean the abortion 
facility would be required to close down.

Planned Parenthood also earlier tried to influence the city's decision 
by sending letters to the mayor and aldermen making accusations against 
the pro-life protesters opposed to its facility.

The attack came from Steve Trombley, president of Planned 
Parenthood/Chicago Area, who sent out a three-page letter.

According to documents assembled by Stanek, Trombley's letter said 
members of the "Pro-Life Action League ... have a well-documented 
history of advocating violence against both persons and property as well 
as other related criminal activity."

However, the "documented history" was a court ruling that later was 
overturned -- three times -- by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Oh my, if that doesn't scream libel lawsuit, I don't know what does," 
Stanek wrote on her blog. "Here, Trombley unmistakably accused 
[pro-lifers] of commandeering violence."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

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