Lake County dump site may finally be cleaned up -- chicagotribune.com: "The home and the rest of his property sit like an island in unincorporated Wauconda Township, surrounded by sprawling ranch and split-level homes in the leafy Lakeland Estates neighborhood.
Tarkowski said the Lakeland Estates Property Owners Association long ago decided he and his home stuck out like a sore thumb. Members of the group used the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to force a cleanup in violation of his civil rights, he said."
------------
That is the view of crusty, 83 year old, Mr. Tarkowski. But the other side is this: "In the annals of eyesores, John Tarkowski's 16-acre spread near Lake Barrington occupied a league all its own. His property, some of it wetlands, was littered with thousands of tires -- many holding water -- dozens of 55-gallon chemical drums, the rusting chassis of old cars, decaying lead-acid batteries and construction waste, according to state officials. The feisty 83-year-old even used roofing shingles to build roads that meandered through the wetlands. For years, government officials say, Tarkowski ran one of the state's worst illegal private dumps, charging $10 for trucks to drop a load there.
But for decades no government officials would do anything about it, perhaps because Tarkowski is litigious. I say, good for the HOA that brought down the heat on him. This is one example of an HOA organizing for political action that made the area better.
4 comments:
This is what city and county code enforcers should be doing, not HOAs.
The only presumption one can make about an involuntary membership organization is that the organization acted contrary to the desires of its members. If HOAs acted in the interest of the members, membership in the organization would not need to be involuntary.
Evan:
Another "isolated incident" of an HOA doing something right?
The HOA deserves credit for getting the local and state agencies off their butts and making them do their jobs. Obviously environmental cleanup isn't the HOAs job as such. But it is certainly a good thing for a community organization to take an interest in ending blight like this. The place was a breeding ground for mosquitoes, including the ones that carry West Nile Virus. And the pollution issues went far beyond even that.
Post a Comment