Carol Stream condo association nears deadline to fix code violations
As its legal fight with the village stretches past two years, a Carol Stream condo association has until next week to schedule repairs and fix remaining code violations in the complex just west of Gary Avenue.
The village took Carolshire Commons Condominium Association to court in September 2013, claiming the group charged with the maintenance and day-to-day operations of the 216-unit complex along Elk Trail refused to address hundreds of needed repairs flagged by building inspectors.
The village argued the complex, spread across 28 buildings, had long fallen into a "state of disrepair," noting a dilapidated parking lot and the collapse of a canopy in August 2010, the complaint states. No injuries were reported then, but nearly two dozen families were temporarily evacuated.
Over the summer of 2012, village-hired consultants inspected the complex on multiple occasions and identified more than 600 repairs that would have to be done to clear the common areas of code issues, according to the suit. Inspectors deemed nearly 280 of the repairs as high priority.
The most hazardous infractions at the time included broken windows and doors, rotten landings, covered sprinkler heads, unsecure railings and hanging, low-voltage wires, the suit states.
That September, the village sent the list of violations and spent "an extraordinary amount of time and effort" to get the condo association to voluntarily comply, pointing to meetings, phone calls and emails, according to the complaint. In filing the suit, the village asked a DuPage County judge to demand the condo association complete the projects.
Another round of inspections was done this summer to track the progress on the original report from the village's consultants, Community Development Director Don Bastian said Wednesday. Bastian directed inquiries about the remaining code violations to the village's attorney, who could not be reached.
The condo association has to send the village, either on or before Sept. 17, a timeline outlining when the rest of the violations will be fixed. Then a status hearing on the case will be held in DuPage County courtroom 1003 at 9 a.m. Sept. 28.
The condo association's attorney, listed in court documents as Mark Reinbold, did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday.