Property sweeps net felony charge
By Brian Shields
STAFF WRITER
Cleanup order: Kane Community Prosecution Unit cites trailer park's living conditions
AURORA TOWNSHIP — Six years ago, Dale Seidelman said despite the sewer problems, water-line breaks and other quality of life complaints he received from tenants at Margaret's Parkview Trailer Park, he would take care of the problems.
But Kane County prosecutors and state and township officials say Seidelman has made a bad situation worse.
The Naperville man was charged this week with failing to properly maintain records, a Class 2 felony, for the trailer park at 800 Hill Ave. Seidelman was also cited with 30 environmental and health citations after prosecutors and the state's Environmental Protection Agency visited the property Wednesday to document the conditions.
Seidelman, of the 300 block of River Bluff Circle, turned himself in to Aurora police Thursday. Community Prosecution Unit prosecutor Richard Irvin said Seidelman is next expected in Kane County court on Oct. 2.
In an interview with the Beacon News in 1995, Seidelman said he tried to address problems at the trailer park whenever he could, and indicated he wanted to redo the entire 115-lot property.
"This is all part of my grand plan. I plan to eventually turn this park into one of the best in the area. But when you do something like that, it just takes time," he said at the time.
Irvin, one of two assistant state's attorneys assigned to the Community Prosecution Unit, openly scoffed at that notion. He noted the cooperation of entities as diverse as the Illinois EPA, the Kane County Health Department and zoning board and the Secretary of State Police in documenting the problems.
"When we finally went out there, we were utterly disgusted that the environment people live in would be deteriorated to this extent," Irvin said. "If (Seidelman's) response to us now is he'll get to it when he gets to it, then that's not good enough. He now has no choice."
Owner of the property since 1990, Seidelman saw a trickle of complaints become a deluge in 1995 when he informed his tenants, many of them elderly, of a rent increase due to higher taxes.
Tenants complained of broken sewer pipes that spewed filth over yards, junked cars allowed to sit indefinitely on the property and water unfit to drink or bathe in. Seidelman said then the park's support structures were so outdated they were difficult to fix.
Additionally, the state EPA seemed to be the only agency back then that would investigate the problems, with other local entities saying that the property was out of their jurisdiction.
Irvin wants it known that the laid-back attitude has changed.
Authorities discovered all the violations tenants have complained about, including 23 junked vehicles and abandoned trailers sitting on the property.
"My job as community prosecutor is to represent the people of the area," he said. "The conditions these people are living in, I don't even think animals deserve to live like this.
"That's one of the main issues that we deal with, that a lot of these slum landlords don't even live in our town, but they bring this stuff to Aurora and leave it here. And as a native of Aurora, I don't appreciate it, either. I think it's contemptible."
Seidelman can get between three and seven years in prison if convicted on the felony charge, but he can also receive probation. The landlord has a meeting with the state EPA next week, and Irvin said he would visit once a week if he had to to make sure Seidelman complies with the cleanup order.
In another Community Prosecution Unit sweep Wednesday, Ricky E. Roberts, of 1565 Dearborn Ave. in Aurora, was also cited with multiple quality-of-life violations.
Roberts, who lives in the home with his wife and six children, was given a citation for operating an unlicensed scrap yard, allowing refuse to accumulate on his property and failure to vaccinate, register and house numerous dogs on his land.
The Department of Children and Family Services will be notified about the unsafe and unsanitary conditions the children are allowed to live in, and the home is to be made safe within the next two weeks, prosecutors said.
09/21/01
