RANKIN, Pa. — Allegheny County District Attorney Steven Zapalla charged Palisades Plaza in Rankin as a public nuisance Friday due to deplorable conditions. Residents have dealt with everything from leaking raw sewage to electrical hazards and mold.
“I have black mold in my bathroom. I took pictures and stuff like that. I talked to the health department,” said Chauneisha Lightfoot.
Chauniesha Lightfoot and her two kids have lived at the Palisades Plaza here in Rankin for 5 years. She says in recent years, the conditions inside the apartments have gotten out of hand.
Lightfoot said, “My fricking bathroom sink is clogged you know my shower is stripped. I don’t even have hot water in my shower. Me and my kids have been taking baths out of buckets.”
This has been the family’s reality since December.
“It’s very frustrating just because of my kids. Like I feel like if it was just me I could deal with that but because it is my kids it’s a whole different feeling of frustration,” she said.
District Attorney Stephen Zapalla’s office criminally charged the property owners, Palisades Plaza Apartments, LLC on Friday as recent inspections showed troubling results.
At Palisades, a HUD inspection in December resulted in a 0 out of 100 score due to “life-threatening deficiencies” like broken fire doors, damaged emergency exit signs, exposed electrical conductors and missing smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. In addition to the health hazards, the criminal complaint says there are also many safety issues with police called here 296 times in 2024.
Lightfoot said, “Nothing has been done. It just makes me feel like I want to move out of this borough even more.”
The Palisades Plaza LLC has been linked to the same ownership of Mon View Heights in West Mifflin where charges were also filed for similar offenses.
Lightfoot says she feels it’s fitting that the property owners will have to face consequences.
She said, “It has been such a long time for them to you know - giving them the opportunity to be able to come and fix everything and do the stuff that they say they’re going to do and then they don’t so I feel like that’s pretty fair.”
Zappala says the property owners also manage other apartment complexes in Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties.
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