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(a) It shall be the duty of the owner of any open lot located within the City of Chicago to cause the lot to be surrounded with a noncombustible screen fence as defined in Section 13-96-130 of this Code. Provided, however, that this section shall not apply to any governmental agency or unit of local government; nor shall it apply to sideyards. The owner shall maintain any such fence in a safe condition without tears, breaks, rust, splinters or dangerous protuberances and in a manner that does not endanger or threaten to endanger vehicular traffic by obstructing the view of drivers. Any fence which is not maintained in accordance with these provisions is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and shall be removed pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter 7-28. It shall be the duty of the owner of any lot whose fence has been so removed to replace such fence with a noncombustible screen fence meeting the requirements of this section and of this Code.
(b) The owner of any open lot located within the City of Chicago shall affix at least one sign meeting the requirements of this subsection to any fence required under subsection (a) of this section. Such sign shall: (1) indicate the name, address and telephone number of the current owner of the open lot; (2) be made of a durable material; (3) contain lettering in a color that contrasts sharply with the background color of the sign; (4) be affixed to the fence in a conspicuous and prominent location so as to be clearly visible and legible from the public sidewalk or public street nearest to the fence on which such sign is affixed; and (5) be maintained in safe and proper condition. The department of streets and sanitation is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement the requirements of this subsection and shall enforce this subsection in accordance with the requirements of Sections 2-100-110 and 7-28-780.
(c) For purposes of this section, the term “owner” shall have the meaning ascribed to the term in Section 13-4-010 of this Code.
(d) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be fined not less than $300 nor more than $600 for each offense. Each day such violation continues shall constitute a separate and distinct offense to which a separate fine shall apply. Provided, however, that it shall be a defense to a violation adjudicated under this section if the owner, as defined in subsection (c) of this section, proves to the administrative law officer at the time of the initial hearing on the issue of whether a violation under this section occurred that such owner has installed, as applicable, fencing meeting the requirements of subsection (a) of this section or signage meeting the requirements of subsection (b) of this section or both.
(Prior code § 99-63; Added Coun. J. 2-11-87, p. 39626; Amend Coun. J. 7-31-90, p. 19384; Amend Coun. J. 10-8-08, p. 39855, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 7-29-09, p. 67509, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 7-28-10, p. 97912, § 10; Amend Coun. J. 11-16-11, p. 14596, Art. II, § 1)
Notes
| 2-100-110 | The hyper-linked material is not part of the Chicago Building Code infobase and therefore is not included herein. The material is included in other provisions of the Chicago Municipal Code. The complete Chicago Municipal Code is available for purchase from American Legal Publishing in both print and Folio® versions. Please click here for the appropriate American Legal order form in printable Adobe® PDF format. For additional information, you may visit American Legal's website by clicking here. |