Palatine, Kostka to Appear in Court Thursday

The first court hearing regarding the village of Palatine’s lawsuit against Warren Kostka is scheduled to take place Thursday, April 26 in a Rolling Meadows court room.

In addition to a fine of $500 per day per violation, the village is seeking an injunction to force Kostka to correct the violations alleged and to also pay the cost of the village’s attorney’s fees.

In January, the village conducted a visual inspection of Kostka’s property at 108 N. Forest Ave. and discovered several ordinance violations consisting of:

• Changes to the property's grading that have been done in a manner as to create a nuisance that consist of deep trenches with unstable and hazardous side slopes; sand bags; various spoil piles of dirt, asphalt and concrete remaining on property; fabric fencing; exposed dirt areas with no permanent or temporary vegetative cover.

• Missing sections of siding, gutters and downspouts, handrails and guardrails.

• Broken pane of glass in the south elevation window.

• Driveway in disrepair.

• Wood boards lying on the roof.

Kostka claims that a federally mandated project to separate Palatine's sanitary sewer and storm water system in the 1980s resulted in flood damage to his home.

Several of Kostka's neighbors attended the meeting to complain about the state of his property — sandbags along the side and rear of the home, a trench dug around the home. Near the driveway is a pile of chunks of asphalt — apparently ripped up from the driveway to facilitate the trench.

Just a few days later, that referenced flooding issues in Palatine. The sign stated: "WANT WATER? Buy A Home In Palatine."