Kane County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Flood ruled this week that Geneva developer Shodeen Group cannot evade the city’s legal right to enforce property code standards.

The Shodeen Family Foundation and the Mill Race Land Company LLC, which own the former Mill Race Inn property at 4 E. State St., sued the city late last year. The dispute began over the city’s insistence that a tarp be placed on top of an 1840s blacksmith shop.

The complaint sought to undo a hearing officer’s decision that they violated the city’s property code and the assessment of a $750 a day fine until the owner put a tarp atop the circa 1843 structure.

Mayor Kevin Burns said the city is grateful to Judge Flood for affirming its position.

“That said, our goal remains, as it always has, to work collaboratively with the Shodeen Family Foundation to find a path forward to develop this important parcel of land and help complement the Geneva’s downtown vibrancy and dynamism.”

Flood affirmed hearing officer Victor Puscas’s Nov. 21, 2024, ruling and that Shodeen attorney Daniel Konicek’s legal argument that the city’s International Property Code could not be applied to a vacant or historic structure was wrong.

“Therefore, reading all of the sections of the Code as a whole, even vacant structures are to be maintained in a ‘clean, safe, sanitary, and secure condition ... and may be ordered to be ‘closed up,’” according to Flood’s ruling.

“Failing to maintain a vacant structure so that it is minimally weather-tight clearly appears to violate the intent of the Code. ... Plaintiffs’ Motion is denied, and the decision of the Hearing Officer is affirmed.”

Shodeen Group President David Patzelt they were not sure what the next step would be.

“We are hoping that everybody can take a deep breath and see if we can all work cooperatively together to make some improvements to the corner of Route 25 and 38 – the gateway to Geneva’s historic district in the downtown,” Patzelt said.

As to the tarp, Patzelt said that’s not decided yet, nor is the $750 a day fine.

“I don’t believe the issue is a fine, the dollar amount,” Patzelt said. “We have to solve for what the goal is, not just the tarp. What ultimately can we affordably build and what the city would like on that corner. ... Ultimately what everybody wants is something done on that corner, something redeveloped. And that is what the ultimate goal is for everybody.”

The $750 fine, which began Oct. 17, 2024, is $262,500 as of today, Oct. 2.

City attorney Ronald Sandack said during a September 2024 hearing that the city was interested in compliance more than collecting a fine.

After being denied permission to demolish the former blacksmith shop in 2023, the owners sued the city and the Historic Preservation Commission trying to reverse the decision, but lost.

The former limestone blacksmith shop has historic landmark status, requiring permission to remove that designation and to demolish it.

Demolition is a last resort if there are no other alternatives – which was disputed in months-long hearings between Shodeen and preservationists.

Analysis from consultants Teska and Associates and The Planera Group found that if $1.7 million from a tax increment finance district were applied in a public-private partnership, that could save the structure and repurpose it.

Patzelt said it would be too expensive to repurpose the former blacksmith shop, even if the developer got support from a tax increment finance district – a development tool where public dollars can be used for improvements to a blighted area.

Patzelt said the structure would not generate enough increment to pay for anything in a TIF district.

Shodeen Group created The Shodeen Family Foundation and the Mill Race Land Company LLC, as legal entities to own the 4 E. State St. property, records show.