A house on the 10500 block of South Maplewood Avenue in Beverly has become the target of a city lawsuit after months of citations, cease-and-desist orders and complaints tied to ticketed backyard gatherings featuring live music, food and alcohol. The City of Chicago filed suit against the property's owner and occupant, seeking an injunction to stop the events and force repairs to an unpermitted rooftop deck and garage that inspectors say were never built to code.
The lawsuit names Chanay Walton, who lives at the home and has hosted gatherings there since 2025, and Annette Daval, who took ownership of the property in September 2023, as reported by Block Club Chicago. City attorneys say the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection has an active civil case against the property, and the home has drawn multiple visits from city business officials and other authorities over complaints and police calls about ticketed events advertised with live entertainment, food and drink.
The most recent flashpoint was a July 18 gathering billed as Chanay's Juke Joint: Love Hangover, which featured live music, food prepared on-site, alcoholic beverages, armed security and wristband-wearing attendees, according to the lawsuit's account relayed by Block Club Chicago. Tickets for the event were sold through Ticket Tailor, ranging from $20 general admission to a $45 signature all-inclusive juke joint experience that included admission, a keepsake moonshine mason jar, unlimited signature cocktails and one entree. Walton has said the tickets were updated in May to be free and used only to track RSVPs, and maintains the July 18 gathering was a personal party for family and friends that did not involve the sale of food or alcohol.
A Paper Trail of Citations and Cease-and-Desist Orders
Business inspectors issued nine citations on July 18 alone for operating without required licenses and for failing to abide by earlier cease-and-desist orders, according to the lawsuit. That followed two citations issued in June 2026 for operating without appropriate licenses, and the July 18 event went forward despite a failed building inspection just four days earlier. City business affairs and consumer protection officials had first visited the home on May 21, 2026, issuing cease-and-desist orders that day for operating without food, liquor and public place of amusement licenses.
City officials returned in June 2026 and, per court arguments, learned of a safety concern involving the unpermitted garage and rooftop deck. Building officials found that work on both structures did not follow permitted plans. The property had been issued a permit to erect a new garage back in April 2006, along with a later permit that year to change the garage's roof framing to support a deck with stair access — but the garage failed a 2006 inspection for construction contrary to those approved plans, and the rooftop deck itself was ultimately constructed without proper permits.
Judge Orders Inspection, Case Continued to September
Cook County Judge Federico Rodriguez approved the city's request for an inspection of the home's interior and exterior, with that review expected to wrap up later in August 2026. The city has requested the property owner fix the building issues uncovered during the inspection and has said it is considering asking the court to appoint a receiver to oversee the compliance work if repairs aren't made. Building citations require removal of the work performed without proper permits and restoration of the structure to its original construction. The case was continued to September 17, 2026.
Walton has pushed back on the city's framing of her gatherings. “No matter what I do, anytime that I entertain in my backyard, they are going to assume that I am operating a business, which I think is really ridiculous,” she said. She has also said she worked with the city to bring her gatherings into compliance with city codes and that she stopped listing the residence as a venue rental — the home had previously been advertised on rental platforms, including a September 2023 listing touting a three-car garage with a double-decker patio, as available for hosting events and parties.
Why City Rules Make This Nearly Impossible to License
The legal bind Walton faces is structural, not just procedural. Under Chicago's business licensing rules, hosting paid or ticketed events with live entertainment and alcohol requires a Public Place of Amusement license, and per the Institute for Justice, that license is legally prohibited within 125 feet of residential zoning districts without a rare variation — meaning a home on a residential block like Maplewood Avenue would struggle to obtain one even if it applied. The same PPA license can cost between $770 and $13,200 depending on capacity and takes an average of 233 days to process because of mandatory debt, zoning and background checks, according to the Institute for Justice, a timeline that helps explain why informal hosts often skip the process entirely. Violating the licensing requirement under Chicago's municipal code carries potential fines of up to $10,000 per day or immediate closure orders.
The case also lands on a block with a documented history of aldermanic pushback against unpermitted party rentals. The Maplewood Avenue home sits on the same block where 19th Ward Alderman Matt O'Shea lives, and O'Shea told CBS News Chicago that Walton had received 11 citations and four cease-and-desist orders from the city since the start of the year for hosting unlicensed concerts and illegally renting her yard on platforms like Peerspace. O'Shea previously took the owner of a Morgan Park residence to building court in 2017 following a violent New Year's Eve party hosted through an online rental platform, and in 2018 the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection issued a cease-and-desist order to a Morgan Park business owner after O'Shea reported fliers advertising an unlicensed late-night party with cover charges.
Chicago has steadily tightened its rules around residential event spaces over the past several years. In 2020, the City Council passed a short-term rental reform ordinance banning single-night residential rentals and expanding BACP's authority to target so-called party houses. The city's shared housing ordinance also allows precinct voters to petition for localized moratoriums banning short-term rental platforms outright on specific blocks, a tool available to Beverly neighbors who want a more permanent fix than citation-by-citation enforcement. If Walton and Daval fail to bring the property into compliance, Illinois municipal law allows the city to ask a circuit court judge to appoint an independent receiver to remediate the unpermitted structures — the same enforcement mechanism the city has used elsewhere, including in ongoing building-code fights over the Portage Theater's path to reopening.
