(a) The purposes of this chapter are:
(1) To ensure that owners of vacant property are known to the Village and to other interested parties, and can be contacted if necessary;
(2) To ensure that owners of vacant property are aware of the obligations and responsibilities of ownership under applicable laws;
(3) To ensure that owners of vacant property meet minimum standards of maintenance under the law; and
(4) To encourage and speed the process of rehabilitating buildings to achieve increased occupancy.
(b) This chapter is adopted to establish a program for identifying and registering vacant buildings within the Village that may present fire hazards and other health and safety hazards to the public, that may provide temporary shelter for transients, drug users, drug dealers and other lawbreakers, that may devalue other properties in the Village, that may detract from private and/or public efforts to rehabilitate or maintain surrounding homes and buildings, and that may, in general, present hazards to the health, safety, and welfare of the public. Through a registration, inspection, and monitoring process, vacant buildings will be kept weather tight and secure from trespassers, will provide safe entry to police officers and firefighters in times of emergency, and will not impede private and/or public efforts to rehabilitate or maintain surrounding neighborhoods and buildings.
(Ord. 2019-19. Passed 2-24-20; Ord. 14-2022. Passed 9-12-22.)