The Oak Lawn Village Board voted Tuesday to require that landlords maintain elevator service in residential buildings and make timely repairs, following cases of people who live in buildings with broken elevators calling the village for help to get up and down the stairs.
Trustee James Pembroke said over the past couple of years he has fielded calls from residents who say owners of apartments and condominiums failed to restore service.
“This is particularly problematic with citizens or residents that have ability issues,” Pembroke said Tuesday.
He said officials reviewed ordinances to help these individuals with without affecting the village’s responsibility to fix anything or the state’s participation in the inspection and the maintenance of elevators.
The resulting ordinance requires building owners to notify the village within two business days after an elevator is out of service and engage an elevator service contractor within five business days. If the sole elevator in a building is out of service for more than 30 days, the village must be given a written status update on repair progress and the building owners may be asked to provide evidence of their efforts.
If an elevator remains out of service for more than 10 days in a row, the building owners must provide written status updates to residents once every seven days and make reasonable efforts to assist residents who, due to disability or medical condition, are unable to access their units by stairs.
“This kind of puts the owners of buildings on notice that the village is aware of these types of problems and being a good citizen requires them to maintain their buildings and make sure that they’re taking good care of their customers, their residents,” Pembroke said.
Some residents have called for ambulances to help them get up and down the stairs of buildings that lack elevator service, village officials said. Mayor Terry Vorderer said once case he heard about involved an elevator in a five-story building out of order for almost 60 days.
“I sympathize with those people having to walk up five stories, waiting for their elevator to be repaired,” Vorderer said.
The ordinance requires building owners to maintain regular elevator maintenance consistent with industry standards to ensure elevators remain usable and accessible.
Building owners in violation are subject to general penalties between $100 and $750 for each day, according to the ordinance. The village is unable to revoke elevator permits, certificates of operation or state regulated safety approvals.
Street light updates
The village continues preparations to replace street lights along 95th Street and Cicero Avenue, hiring Strand Associates, Inc., an engineering consulting firm based in Joliet, to provide project updates ahead of construction.
The engineering firm was hired in September for $125,000 to survey and provide an environmental review of 95th Street from 54th Avenue to Cicero Avenue. The village plans to begin lighting replacements in 2027, eventually installing modern LED fixtures along the 95th Street corridor as well as from Cicero Avenue to Pulaski Road and along Cicero Avenue from 87th Street to 111th Street.
Oak Lawn grants administrator Coleen Barkmeier said the village is covering engineering for the project but received a grant from the Southwest Conference of Mayors to pay 80% of construction costs while the village pays 20%. Barkmeier said the village first applied for the grant funding in 2023, but the project has lagged due to approvals required by the Illinois Department of Transportation.
“So the costs have all gone up,” Barkmeier said. “But we have gone back to IDOT through Southwest Conference and asked for some more funds, and I believe that they’re going to help us bring it up so it’s still the 20-80 match.”
In September, the village said the Southwest Conference of Mayors grant was for $722,000.
The village is now unable to replace street lights that go out because they are outdated and no longer sold. The LED lights will also be more efficient and reduce light pollution, Barkmeier said.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
