WESTBROOK – A local independent-living facility for seniors, which used to be a nursing home, has been slapped with an order by the city to file proper paperwork acknowledging the change of use within 30 days, or risk being taken to court.

The former Riverside Estates Nursing Home at 401 Brook St. closed in 2003, ending its existence as a nursing home, according to state records. It later reopened, under new management, as Countryside Villa, a different facility with a different focus, as an independent living facility.

Trouble is, the owner never told the city that, nor did he apply for the correct permits to change the facility’s designation. Now, eight years later, after a recent problem with the facility’s septic system got the attention of the code enforcement department, the facility’s owner, Sifwat Ali, has to make sure he complies with the order, in addition to fixing the septic system.

City Administrator Jerre Bryant said last week that the city also took a closer look at the facility in response to complaints from neighbors about seeing people in the area they didn’t know, people who might have been coming from the facility.

“They were seeing activity in the neighborhood that concerned them,” Bryant said.

Last week, code enforcement officials said paperwork associated with Countryside Villa shows the facility was still designated as a nursing home, and on Tuesday, the city’s online assessing information also listed the building as a nursing home.

But that’s not accurate, according to the licensing division of the state’s Department of Health and Human Services. Nursing homes require a state license to operate, and Countryside Villa does not have a nursing home license, state officials said. The last nursing home license associated with the building expired in 2003, when Riverside Estates Nursing Home closed.

Countryside Villa does have some sort of state permit, but after more than a week of inquiries to the state, it’s still not clear what it is. A piece of paper marked with the state seal is pinned with a thumbtack to the wall of the lobby of the facility. On it is the designation “EST ID: 10699,” and a management company was listed as “Eagle Landing Management LLC.”

Caitlin Chamberlain, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state’s office, said her office could not identify the number, but said Eagle Landing Management LLC is listed in their records as an “independent living facility.”

John Martins, a spokesman for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said Maine state law defines “independent living facility” as “a program of assisted housing services provided to residents in private apartments in buildings that include a common dining area, either directly by the provider or indirectly through contracts with persons, entities or agencies.” The law also states that such facilities do not need licensing from the state, he said.

His department, however, also could not identify the number. According to the licensing division, the facility has not been on the state’s radar at all since 2003.

Regardless of how the state defines it, Countryside Villa is no longer a nursing home, and to operate as anything else, according to Westbrook Code Enforcement Officer Rick Gouzie, the owners needed to file a change of use request with the city.

That never happened, Gouzie said, and for eight years the city has been in the dark about exactly what the facility does, and whether it’s in compliance with local zoning laws. On Tuesday, Gouzie visited the facility, and learned that the owners are now classifying it as a “rooming house,” which is the closest designation the city has to what the facility does.

That complies with zoning in the area, too, but the facility still needs to apply for a permit, which as of Wednesday morning, it had not done. If Ali does not file the paperwork, the city could take him and the facility to court.

Bryant confirmed last week that the fire department had conducted routine fire safety inspections there, and Gouzie said he was there five years ago to address a leaking leach field.

Ali, the facility’s owner, was not available for comment by American Journal deadline.