Richmond Heights Zoning Board of Appeals on Feb. 19 unanimously rejected the appeal by 444 Park Apartments seeking to overturn an order requiring them to have at least one working elevator in each of the four buildings by Feb. 14.

With no one showing up to represent the three appellants — 444 Park Owners LLC, 444 Richmond Park Apartments LLC, and RHM Real Estate Group — the board swiftly approved a motion to accept the conclusion of facts in support of denying more time to repair the elevators.

Contained in the conclusion was additional information on the ongoing problems at the apartment complex, in which the leasing manager of RHM Real Estate Group, Lea Martin, stated that the owners have spent $2.1 million on “interior and exterior lighting, emergency lighting, paving of parking areas and carpet cleaning.” No mention was made of funds being spent on the elevators.

“I think it’s imperative to get these repairs as soon as possible -- I think we need to have that checked on,” Zoning Board Chairman Jerold Hoover said during the meeting. “I don’t know what (else) we do at this point.”

Martin testified in the previous appeal meeting, according to the conclusion of facts document released on Feb 19, that the elevators in Building D have not been operational since October.

In an additional report produced by the city, as of Feb 19, Building D still had no working elevators, with buildings C and A both only having one of three operational.

Building B has all three elevators in operation.

While RHM Real Estate Group has not responded to a News-Herald request for comment, the document states that, in response, Dave Konopka of RHM Real Estate Group sent a letter that stated they would meet vague deadlines.

“Mr. Konopka represents that the management company ‘expects’ all elevators in Buildings A, B and C to be operating prior to the ZBA’s regular meeting in March … and that they will ‘press’ to have all elevators in Building D operational within that time frame,” the conclusion of facts documents states. “The Appellants did not present evidence or law to refute the orders in the Adjudication Order but only submitted aspirational goals of having all 12 elevators operational by March 5, 2025.”

Richmond Heights Law Director R. Todd Hunt said that he will turn the documents over to the prosecutor and that there wasn’t a firm timeline for when charges could be raised.

“There was a letter from the management company that said we would have something last week, so we gave them till Friday (Feb. 14), and as of today it’s the same thing,” Hunt said in a statement after the meeting. “There is no timeline now, but they will be prosecuted and fined.”