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»See photos from the Fairfield Building and Zoning division of the problems at Heritage Glen
»See photos from the Sept. 12 fire that destroyed one Heritage Glen apartment building.
FAIRFIELD — Fairfield Judge Joyce A. Campbell said photos taken from the Heritage Glen apartment complex in Fairfield looked like they were taken in a third-world country.
The owner of the complex, located in the 5000 block of Pleasant Avenue, was found guilty on 43 charges stemming from code and zoning violations. Because each charge carries a fine up to $3,000, the owner must pay about $129,000 in fines.
“I wish I had the power to have you live there,” Campbell said to Lanny R. Holbrook, of Eastgate Village Ltd.
Fifty-six criminal charges were filed against Eastgate Village, the company that owns the property, in 2008. Tuesday’s status hearing gave the property owners a chance to explain what work has been done to fix the violations, which range from mold, unsanitary conditions and plumbing problems, since the last hearing in early September.
“Virtually nothing has been done the entire year,” city of Fairfield Law Director John Clemmons said. “It has fallen apart on his (Holbrook’s) watch.”
Clemmons said some apartments are “almost unlivable” because of mold and that a ceiling collapse in October, where a woman was injured when a ceiling fell on her after a water heater “exploded,” is “typical of conditions that exist.”
The defendants stated that a Sept. 12 fire, where one building was destroyed, caused setbacks in fixing violations on the property. That building was free of violations.
Campbell said any fixes were “not enough and not fast enough.”
“I’m embarrassed and ashamed these conditions exist in the city of Fairfield ... We build housing in Haiti, in Africa, but in my own backyard, we have people living in filth. It’s disgraceful and it makes me sad that the working poor don’t have a better place to live.”
Campbell will follow up with the case March 29. The owners were previously found guilty of 13 cases, bringing the total fine for the 56 cases to $168,000.
Contact this reporter at (513) 483-5237 or kcano@coxohio.com.
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