A. Declaration Of Chronic Public Nuisance Property: It shall be unlawful and a nuisance for any person to intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or negligently permit any rental unit and/or multi-family residential structure within the village to become, exist or be used as a chronic public nuisance, and any chronic public nuisances found to exist within the village shall be subject to abatement in accordance with this section. For purposes of this section, "multi-family residential structure" shall include the land which is affixed, incidental or pertinent to that structure, including, but not limited to, any parking area, common area, premises, room, house, building or structure, or any separate part or portion thereof.
B. Preabatement Procedure: Whenever the chief of police, or his/her designee, receives one police report of any law enforcement agency lawfully exercising jurisdiction in the village, which reports or describes public nuisance activity within the village within the same one year period by a tenant(s), any member of the tenant's household, tenant's guest(s), and any person under tenant's control, of the same rental unit or the same multi-family residential structure, the chief of police, or his/her designee, may take the following action:
1. Notify the landlord that the property may be in danger of becoming a chronic public nuisance property. The notice shall contain the following information:
a. The street address or legal description sufficient for identification of the dwelling unit and/or at a multi-family residential structure.
b. A statement that the chief of police has information that the property is in danger of becoming a chronic public nuisance property with a concise description of the public nuisance activities that may exist or that have occurred. Said notice shall further state the following:
(1) Demand that corrective action be taken to ensure that a second or subsequent public nuisance activity (in the event of a felony offense related to the same rental unit) or a third or subsequent public nuisance activity does not occur in regard to the same rental unit within that one year period, or, in the case of a multi-family residential structure, to ensure that a sixth or subsequent public nuisance activity does not occur within that one year period;
(2) Explain that, in the event of a subsequent occurrence of a public nuisance activity on that property, the chief of police may declare the property a chronic public nuisance, such that the landlord's residential operator's license shall be subject to suspension or revocation;
(3) Recommend that landlord enforce the crime free lease provision through eviction or take such other reasonable corrective action as the chief of police deems necessary; and
(4) Notify the landlord that it has the right to request a hearing before the village manager to contest the determination of an occurrence of public nuisance activity. Said request for a hearing must be received by the village manager within eight (8) days following the date such notice was personally delivered or placed in the mail. If such a request for a hearing is not received within that time period, the police chief's determination shall become final.
c. Said notice shall be served by regular U.S. mail or by personal service.
2. Whenever the chief of police, or his/her designee, receives subsequent police reports of any law enforcement agency lawfully exercising jurisdiction in the village, which report or describe a second or subsequent public nuisance activity in regard to the same rental unit or a second, third, fourth, or fifth or subsequent public nuisance activity in regard to the same multi-family residential structure within the same one year period, the chief of police, or his/her designee, shall send a notice in the form set forth in subsection B1 of this section. For purposes of this section, it is not necessary that notices be sent for each public nuisance activity that may occur, but that two (2) preabatement notices be sent in regard to public nuisance activities at a rental unit, and five (5) preabatement notices be sent in regard to such activities at a multi-family residential structure, prior to commencement of the abatement proceedings set forth below. If the first or second public nuisance activity in regard to the same rental unit is a felony offense, a second preabatement notice is not required.
C. Abatement Procedure: If, after complying with the notification procedures described in subsection B of this section, the chief of police receives a police report documenting the occurrence of a second public nuisance activity, one of which public nuisances is a felony offense, or a third or subsequent public nuisance activity in regard to the same rental unit and/or receives a police report documenting the occurrence of a sixth or subsequent public nuisance activity in regard to the same multi-family residential structure within one year of the acts or conduct with respect to which a notification was issued, and determines that the property has become a chronic public nuisance property, the chief of police shall:
1. Notify the landlord of the rental unit and/or multi-family residential structure that the property has been declared a chronic public nuisance property. The notice shall contain the following information:
a. The street address or legal description sufficient for identification of the property.
b. A statement that the chief of police has determined the property to be a chronic public nuisance property with a concise description of the public nuisance activities leading to that finding.
c. A statement that the chief of police has recommended to the village manager to revoke or suspend the residential operator's license pursuant to subsection 10.401C of this code.
d. Said notice shall be served by regular U.S. mail, or by personal service.
D. Burden Of Proof, Notice:
1. In an action seeking abatement of a chronic public nuisance property by revocation or suspension of the landlord's residential operator's license, the Village shall have the initial burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that the property is a chronic public nuisance property.
2. For purposes of showing that the property is a chronic public nuisance property and that a public nuisance has occurred within the Village, the testimony of police officers to recount witness statements shall be admissible, subject to the discretion of the hearing officer.
3. The following are defenses to an action seeking suspension or revocation of a residential operator's license:
a. That the landlord, at the time in question, could not, in the exercise of reasonable care or diligence, determine that the property had become a chronic public nuisance property, or could not, in spite of the exercise of reasonable care and diligence, control the conduct leading to the findings that the property is a chronic public nuisance property.
b. That the public nuisance activities occurring at a rental unit were not related to the same tenant. Public nuisance activities at a rental unit are subject to abatement under this section, if they occur while the rental unit is leased to the same tenant.
4. The failure of any person to receive the notices in subsections B and C of this section shall not invalidate or otherwise affect the proceedings under this section.
E. Eviction Or Retaliation Prohibited: It shall be unlawful for an owner to terminate the lease agreement of a tenant or otherwise retaliate against any tenant because that tenant complained to the police chief about nuisance activities on the owner's premises. Such eviction or retaliation shall be enforceable as a violation of subsection 23.1809A of this article. (Ord. 5619, 3-6-2007; amd. Ord. 5896, 12-20-2011)