The Code Enforcement Officer is responsible for neighborhood preservation, code compliance and nuisance abatement. The Village accomplishes this through public education about codes and nuisances, emphasis on voluntary compliance before enforcement, conflict resolution, and ultimately court-ordered abatement. Code enforcement also indirectly serves as a detection mechanism for social problems that may be present at a given property. The Code Enforcement Officer coordinates and centralizes compliance and enforcement activities that cut across several departments such as building, zoning, planning, health, sewer, streets, police and fire.
Code Enforcement Procedures
Filing A Complaint
You can call the Code Enforcement Division and speak to one of the officers or you may also complete and e-mail the complaint form. Code Enforcement will review the information and investigate to determine if there is a violation of the Municipal Ordinance.
Investigating A Complaint
Once a complaint is received, Code Enforcement will make a site visit to determine if a violation exists. If there is a violation, Code Enforcement will determine who the responsible party/property owner is. Once that is established, the appropriate parties will be notified of the violation(s). This notification may either be in person or by correspondence.
Notifications
Once it has been determined who the responsible party is, Code Enforcement will notify them of the violation(s). This notification may take the form of personal contact, telephone or by letter. In certain situations, such as health or safety matters, or repeat violations, there may be no notification and a citation may be issued. No matter what form of notification is given; there will be a due date by which the corrections must be completed by to avoid further enforcement action. If, after the first notice, there is no abatement of the violation by the due date, staff may issue a second notice. This notice will be in written form and will also have a due date by which the violations must be corrected. In certain instances there may be no second notice and Code Enforcement staff may issue a citation to appear in court. If after the final notice the violation is not abated, the violator may be issued a citation to appear in municipal court.
Citation
If a code violation case gets to the point of citation, the responsible party/property owner may be issued a Citation. Once this citation is issued, the person receiving the citation is required to appear in court on the date given on the citation. If after judicial proceedings a defendant is found to be guilty of violating the municipal ordinance, the judge may impose a civil penalty, similar to a fine.
Abatement
If after citation the situation is not corrected, the Village may post the property with Notice to Abate. At the end of the allotted time, the Village may enter the property, with judicial approval, to remove, or abate, the violations. Once the abatement is completed, the property owner will be billed for the associated costs. If after 30 days of billing the abatement costs are not paid, the Village may place a lien on the property to recover the cost of abatement.
If you have a complaint or concern that you feel may be a nuisance to the community. Please contact us and fill out a Citizen Service Request Form.
Complaints are confidential and complainant information is not released. Complainant information is for follow-up information if needed.