FOX LAKE – An appeal to delay the closing of the Aquarium Bar and Grill was denied Dec. 2 by Fox Lake officials who ordered that most tenants currently living in the building must move out by Dec. 7.
The decision was made following a hearing Dec. 1 at which Aquarium owner Jeff Pahl asked the village to give him an additional 30 days to complete repairs on violations found during inspections of the building Oct. 12 and 14.
As of Dec. 9, tenants staying in four of the six units at the Aquarium that had been declared unfit for habitation had moved out, Fox Lake building inspector Frank Urbina said.
Pahl currently is in the process of arranging for alternative housing for the remaining tenants, said attorney Ron Richards, who is representing Pahl.
If the remaining tenants do not move out of the Aquarium, they will be issued $750 citations for each day they remain in their units, Urbina said. Pahl also would be issued a citation for each day the tenants remain, he said.
Ordering his tenants to leave by Dec. 7 was too short a timeframe for them to make additional housing arrangements, Pahl said.
“It is not enough time for anybody to find a place to live,” he said. “They are throwing my tenants out to the curb.”
Of the 81 violations discovered during the October inspections, about a dozen remained as of a Nov. 24 inspection, Urbina said. The biggest concern to village inspectors is plumbing fixtures that are not properly vented in rental units at the building, Urbina said. The improper venting on toilets and sinks is allowing for harmful sanitary gases to enter into living areas, he said.
Many of the units smell like urine and mold, Urbina said during the hearing on Dec. 1.
Any landlord operating rental units must maintain a safe environment for tenants, something that is not the case at the Aquarium, Fox Lake building commissioner Bill Hart said during the hearing.
“The owner has a responsibility to provide a safe living space,” Hart said.
Had Pahl known that the plumbing violations were considered serious enough to warrant shutting down the Aquarium, he would have concentrated on prioritizing those violations, Richards said.. His client recognizes the need to bring his building up to code, Richards said, and has made a good faith effort to comply with village orders.
“A bad odor in an apartment is not a life-threatening issue,” Richards said. “We’re not denying that those violations were there. We do not believe that all of them were life-threatening.”
Urbina said there are any number of violations that could be considered life-threatening to occupants of the Aquarium.
“If one smoke detector is inoperable we will not allow [occupancy],” Urbina said.
Once the remaining violations have been properly repaired, Pahl is welcome to contact the village about scheduling another inspection, Fox Lake Mayor Ed Bender said. In the meantime, the village felt it was necessary to act in the name of the health and safety of Aquarium tenants, Bender said.
“[Pahl] knew what the issue was, and he knows the importance of it,” Bender said. “He just hasn’t cleaned up the violations.”
Pahl estimates that it will cost him between $10,000 and $12,000 to repair the plumbing violations, which he plans to do. He questioned the timing of the village’s decision to order tenants out of the building, particularly so close to the holiday season.
“I have never had a complaint from any of my tenants,” Pahl said. “[Fox Lake officials] are just trying to use their power to ruin my life and the people who live here.”