Property Maintenance Code Debate Heats Up

As the evening dragged past its fourth hour, audience members at the meeting sighed heavily, repeatedly crossing and uncrossing their legs and shifted in their seats.

Those in attendance paid attention, waiting for the discussion of the property maintenance code that was recommended by the Winnetka Plan Commission in April to keep rental property available for those with less income. It was also discussed in a council information session in June. The rental and commercial property ordinance would give officials a way to regulate poorly maintained living spaces.

After nearly two hours of discussion, one thing that was clear was that the code that was up for introduction Tuesday night was not up to par for some trustees and most of the audience, leading the council to not even take a vote.

Earlier:

Trustee Richard Kates disagreed on the language, saying the current code could leave the village vulnerable to legal issues due to its lack of discretionary wiggle room. Some of the language would make functioning windows and seven-foot ceilings mandatory.

Community Development Director Michael D’Onofrio said the language does allow discretion. He told Kates the village would not necessarily require owners make changes to their properties. Kates fired back.

“The code doesn’t give you discretion," he said. “To me, as a lawyer, you read it as it’s written."

Village Attorney Kathy Janega remarked that no code can cover every single circumstance that may arise between a landlord and a tenant.

“You can’t govern the whole universe,” she said. “Our code right now is this four-inch thick volume and every code requires judgment particularly when you get into the building and zoning areas. It requires the exercise of judgment on the people you have administering it.”

Tensions Rise

That wasn’t the only heated moment of the property code debate. Business owner Jim Sayegh angered trustee Christopher Rintz with his comments.

Sayegh asked the council to remove the commercial property part of the code and to look instead at a landlord-tenant ordinance, which would make a universal Winnetka lease with property maintenance requirements built in.

He worried the ordinance would target property that might not necessarily be owned by one person, pointing out that a few commercial buildings in town are owned by a condominium association.

More Detail on Residential and Commercial Condominiums

A condominium association is formed by a real estate developer in order to manage and sell parts of a piece of property. Mixed-use condominiums, which the council has cited many times, have both residential apartments and commercial businesses.

“You cannot cite a commercial condominium without citing a residential condominium. If a building is entirely commercial, then you can,” Sayegh said. "The notion that you can somehow separate and make part and parcel this code to one quotient of a condominium association and not have it apply to the other is completely fallible.”

Rintz, who is a commercial and residential property developer outside of Winnetka, responded to Sayegh aggressively, before staring Sayegh down when he finished his response.

“You’ve listened to Jim Sayegh come up here and opine on condominium development and how things work in condominium buildings, representing himself as the authority on such things,” Rintz said. “Making the rental component part of the condo association is suicide for the developer.”

Most mixed-use condominium developers usually take retail and commercial property out of the association to avoid issues that may come up between landlords and residential tenants, Rintz said.

“I’m tired of you showing up here every Tuesday night representing yourself as some sort of expert that transcends all that is with respect to mixed-use buildings,” he said, as a few audience members whispered that Rintz was out of line.

'The Elephant in the Room'

In a tie-in to a topic that would be discussed later in the evening, Trustee Gene Greable said he doesn’t understand why residents have been linking the property maintenance code with “the elephant in the room” – affordable housing in Winnetka.

“You have to think it through, if we didn’t have the affordable housing engine going down the track, would property maintenance have really been a problem?” he said. “I don’t think it would have been the issue that it’s been.”

The code will be up for discussion again at the council’s meeting on Sept. 20.

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