Palatine going after building permit scofflaws
One Palatine couple's $25,000 pool deck came in a tad over budget.
Jim Yadgir and Susan Bland didn't account for the $5,000 fine they'd be forced to pay for bypassing the village's permit process, not to mention the public scolding they'd be getting.
Similar cases are popping up with increasing frequency, officials say. The council is left to reluctantly approve after-the-fact projects, while staff levies fines after holding legal administrative hearings known as adjudication.
Palatine wants to get the word out that violators won't go unpunished.
"It's disappointing folks totally disregard the permitting process and rules we have in place," Councilman Brad Helms said. "It's very troubling that we are seeing this now on a frequent basis. Now it's one or two a month."
In June, a Palatine man was ordered to pay a $250 fine for building a walking path around his home on the 1100 block of West Cornell Avenue without a permit. An aerial shot showed the path crossed into Inverness. And in a recently settled dispute, the developer of the Maison du Comte subdivision built an illegal deck on his own unit.
The most flagrant violation of late was the pool deck on the 100 block of South Ashland Avenue. In June 2008, the homeowners applied for a building permit for an aboveground pool deck. The village didn't get a response after informing them they'd need the council to approve a special use and two variations based on the design. In October, a pool inspection revealed the illegal deck and the village issued citations for the non-permitted work.
It took another eight months of application revisions, internal reviews, continuances, zoning board of appeals meetings and adjudication before Palatine officials were satisfied last month.
Yadgir said he got the original notice, but he wanted to build the deck in time for his parents' 50th wedding anniversary. He thought the new deck was better than the existing one and said he didn't intend to disregard the law.
Despite the petitioners' pledged cooperation in working with the village after the deck was built, irritated council members said they were tired of granting reprieves following similar situations.
"This just keeps happening. People do things, look for relief and we keep granting it," Councilman Jack Wagner said. "They'd rather (pay the fine) than take a chance of us saying no."
Councilman Scott Lamerand said he wouldn't mind making the owners tear down the deck. "This was more or less a resident saying, 'The village of Palatine's ordinances don't matter to me.'"
The council also discussed preventive solutions including frequent mentions of permitting requirements on the Web site, newsletter and water bills. Some suggested harsher fines, such as a percentage of the project cost. First-time offenders typically pay fines between $150 and $250, according to Assistant Village Manager Sam Trakas. The fine was higher in this case because the offense was more egregious than average.