Ten years ago, carpenter John Mabbs says, his Batavia house was a mirror image of his neighbor’s home to the north.
But now, according to Mabbs and Batavia officials, his remodeling and his neighbor’s neglect have taken the two homes in opposite directions.
Batavia recently filed a complaint in Kane County Circuit Court seeking to demolish the house at 522 N. River St., owned by Sheila L. Miller. Judge Patrick Dixon has given Miller until March 22 to come up with a plan to clean it up, said City Atty. John Noble.
It is the first time the city has sought to demolish a private residence, said Noble.
“We want the property to be habitable and occupied,” said Noble. “It’s not the city’s desire to tear it down just for the sake of tearing it down. We consider it a drastic thing to have to do. But the condition it is in is unacceptable. It’s a health hazard.”
According to the complaint, a leaky roof has caused serious interior damage and a missing soffit exposes the kitchen to the outdoors. The subfloor is saturated. There is no gas service, heat or hot water, the complaint alleges, as well as exposed electrical wiring throughout.
Mabbs appeared at this week’s City Council meeting to complain that one of several pit bulls that had been locked in Miller’s garage since December got loose recently and roamed the neighborhood. At the Batavia Police Department’s request, the dog was picked up by Kane County Animal Control and, because no one claimed the animal, destroyed.
Noble said in response to his “strongly worded suggestion” to Miller at her March 1 hearing, the other dogs locked in the garage were removed by Miller’s son, the dogs’ owner.
Neither Miller nor her son could be reached for comment about the house or the dogs.
Mabbs said the house’s exterior appearance was so disturbing that he began contacting the city about two years ago. “Raw garbage was pouring out of the bottom panels of the garage door,” he said.
Mabbs said a trash bin appeared at Miller’s house before January 1999 and someone cleaned out the garage, filling about four dozen garbage bags. The bin remained parked at the house for almost a year, he added.
Mabbs contended that even with the bin on the property, the owners allowed garbage to accumulate around the house and overflow out of cans. He is skeptical that things will improve.
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After months of wrangling, the city in December revoked Miller’s occupancy permit and boarded up the house. Her current residence or telephone number is not known to the city, Noble said, but officials did successfully contact her about last week’s court date, sending notices to both her River Street address and in care of her employer, a school bus company in Lisle.
Noble said Miller told city officials on several occasions of plans to improve the property, but she has never followed through.
Still, Noble said, Miller might yet get her house back.
“If she shows up on March 22 with some kind of concrete plan that is realistic and would accomplish the goal of making the property habitable, then we will take a good look at that,” Noble said.
Another neighbor, Batavia historian Bills Woods, agreed with Mabbs’ description of their neighbor’s property.
“He’s very fair in his assessment,” said Woods, who has lived in his home for more than 50 years. “The place has been a mess for the past five or six years.”
But at least one neighbor doesn’t see the problem. A woman, who did not want to be identified, said she has lived in the neighborhood for more than 40 years and knew Miller’s grandmother, Tommie Lou Brown, who once owned the home. The woman said she has known Miller since she was a child and the city is unfairly targeting her.
On Wednesday, a metal garbage can near the center of Miller’s side yard was filled to the brim with large empty dog food cans, which Mabbs said have been there for nine months.
Similar-sized empty cans, many crusted with rust, along with other trash cluttered the property.
Noble said the city began Thursday to clean the trash off the property.