With frustration rising over conditions at the Heritage House senior highrise, Oak Park’s village board may soon be considering a nuisance residential property ordinance that would provide the village greater means to compel property owners and management to maintain their buildings.
At the June 9 village board meeting, assistant village manager and neighborhood services director Jonathan Burch discussed the idea within the context of the issues plaguing Heritage House, 201 Lake St., which is operated by Pacific Management Inc.
The board received an update that night on compliance measures at the property from village code compliance manager Tina Brown for the property that is owned by Heritage House Associates LLC with Wellness America as managing member. It is a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 8 rental subsidized property.
Residents have expressed concerns about myriad issues, including rodents, bedbugs, inadequate garbage dumpsters, not enough maintenance personnel, lax building security, drug use and outsiders entering the building unfettered.
“Many other towns have adopted things specifically related to nuisance properties with additional authorities and obligations for property owners once they are identified as a nuisance property in a locale,” Burch said, “which in turn allows for additional enforcement activities.”
Burch said the next day that the village technically has a nuisance code, but its provisions date to 1981. Other municipalities have adopted more residential-focused codes, which focus on “choosing some measure of what issues trigger, determine specifically what would be those thresholds and what we’d be looking for in a (corrective) plan.”
How long it would take to draft a potential ordinance for board review was unclear from Burch, though he said he anticipates “less time … I think it’s a priority of the residents and the board.”
Board support for proposed ordinance
At the board meeting, Village President Vicki Scaman supported the idea of a nuisance residential property ordinance, not only for Heritage House but other suspect properties in the village.
But Heritage House was the primary thrust of the discussions, which was attended by a host of residents and supporters.
“What we’re hearing is the Heritage House needs that next level,” Scaman said. “They need greater accountability. They need potentially (a different) management company for that location.
“Let’s please do what we can to bring that nuisance ordinance forward as quickly as possible. Unless (residents) are calling the village, they are getting ignored. But the village itself is being responsive.”
That was corroborated by Brown’s report, which noted that 533 property maintenance violations were found in 2023, with 100% compliance achieved by January 2024. In 2025, an inspection of one-third of the building’s units revealed just 22 violations.
“So there was as lot of progress made,” Brown said, noting the village began issuing straight citations for property maintenance violations, not warnings. That improvement waned, however. In May, a complaint-driven inspection resulted in seven citations with fines that could range from $20 to $750, determined by the village’s office of adjudication. A hearing on the matter will be held at 1 pm. July 23.
“In summary, while certain issues periodically reoccur, property management at Heritage House has been consistently responsive to the village and proactive in addressing reported matters,” she said. “We are often told they are unaware before the resident comes to the village. Also, when compared to other large multifamily buildings with 200 or more dwelling units, the Heritage House has not had a significantly higher number of property maintenance complaints.”
“I’m stunned”
Village resident Carl Spight, who doesn’t live at Heritage House, was one of several public commenters at the June 3 meeting and said Brown’s report fell short.
“I’m stunned,” Spight said. “I’m stunned by the report about Heritage House. It doesn’t give you the flavor, the sense of the pathology of the quality of life at the Heritage House … These are our grandparents and our parents and brother and sisters. The residents are family. I would now know that by the report.
“I don’t understand why the board and the village management, the aging commission, is so feckless to improving the quality of life of the residents of the Heritage House. There needs to be a robust discussion of the issues that been summoned up. What’s going on here?”
Spight’s remarks resulted in gallery applause, similar to that later in the meeting for trustee Jim Taglia’s comments about the status of Heritage House.
“If there is a way that this board could throw the book at these guys, I would be all behind that,” he said. “What I’ve seen here, I’m embarrassed. No should feel unsafe. And (residents) are telling me they don’t feel safe walking around. It’s hard to believe this is happening.”
Fellow trustee Derek Eder placed the issue within the lens of a math problem, saying the “cost of inaction is less than the fines they would get for not doing anything. It is our responsibility as a board to change the equation. We should make it extremely expensive for them to not maintain this building.
“Let’s make it a numbers game.”