(A) Definitions.
"DANGEROUS" means, with respect to any building, structure, or portion thereof, presenting potential hazard or risk of harm to persons or property, including but not limited to hazard or risk of harm threatened by the partial or complete collapse thereof, loose, falling or otherwise movable portions of exterior surfaces thereof, the partial or complete collapse of parts thereof such as floors, porches, stairs, railings, balconies, decks or roofs, which are accessible to persons, or the inability of the same to support the normal loads and uses for which they were originally intended.
"OWNER" means any person or entity having a legal or equitable interest in a vacant property, any person or entity disclosed by the records of the Will County Recorder's Office as having or holding such an interest, any person who has entered into a contract for deed with respect to a vacant property, any mortgagee in possession of a vacant property, any guardian, trustee, executor or administrator of any person, estate or entity having a legal or equitable interest in vacant property, and any person or entity possessing control of a vacant property. For the purposes of the foregoing provision, a person or entity shall be deemed to possess control of a vacant property if such person or entity is party to any agreement or instrument together with any other owner (including a mortgage) or has purchased or holds rights thereunder, where such agreement or instrument authorizes or grants rights to such person or entity to enter a vacant property, make repairs to a vacant property, abate or remedy ordinance violations existing with respect to a vacant property, to terminate utility service with respect to a vacant property, to secure a vacant property, or to otherwise take action with respect to a vacant property.
"SECURED BY OTHER THAN NORMAL MEANS" means, with respect to a building, structure or portion thereof rendered inaccessible to unauthorized or illegal entrants by methods other than those contemplated in the original design and construction of the building, structure or portion thereof.
"UNOCCUPIED" means, with respect to a building, structure or portion thereof, lacking in the regular and habitual presence of natural persons lawfully entitled to be present therein. In determining whether a building, structure or portion thereof is unoccupied, the following factors may be considered along with other relevant factors or evidence: whether utility service is being provided to or used at the building, structure or portion thereof; whether any lawful activities are being conducted therefrom; whether and to what extent the building, structure or portion thereof contains any contents, fixtures, or personal property consistent with the intended lawful occupancy thereof; whether and to what extent the building, structure or portion thereof has been the subject of violations of applicable portions of the Village Code of Ordinances, and, in the event that the property has been so subject, whether and to what extent has any response been made to any communications from the village pertaining thereto; whether the building, structure or portion thereof is involved in a foreclosure action; whether an accumulation of mail, newspapers, circulars, flyers or other similar matter exists at a building, structure or portion thereof; whether and to what extent the real estate on which the building, structure or portion thereof is characterized by the presence of overgrown or dead vegetation; whether a portion of a building or structure in question demonstrates the presence or absence of any of the foregoing (or any other) indicia of occupancy in a manner or to an extent different from the balance of the building or structure in question; and the proportion of a building, structure or portion thereof in question that demonstrates any of the foregoing indicia of occupancy (or any other indicia of occupancy) as compared to the overall area of the building, structure or portion thereof in question.
"UNSECURED" means, with respect to any building, structure or portion thereof, open to entry by unauthorized or illegal entrants without the use of tools or ladders.
"VACANT PROPERTY" means any building, structure, or portion thereof that is either unoccupied and unsecured, unoccupied and secured by other than normal means, unoccupied and dangerous, illegally occupied, unoccupied and the subject of a notice issued pursuant to Division 31 of the Illinois Municipal Code, unoccupied and the subject of pending and unabated violations of any applicable provision of the Village Code of Ordinances, unoccupied under circumstances that do not reasonably indicate an intention to occupy the building, structure or portion thereof in question at any particular time, the subject of disconnected gas and/or electric utility service, or during the period from November 1 of any given year through April 1 of the following year, not being kept heated to a minimum internal temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit, as determined by the setting of a properly functioning thermostat or like device or as demonstrated by thermometer temperature readings, and exclusive of refrigerated or intentionally cooled areas where the intended use thereof reasonably requires the temperature to be maintained at a lower level.
(B) Any vacant property as defined in division (A) of this section that is connected to the village water system shall be and hereby is declared to be a public nuisance due to the risk of internal flooding of and damage to such vacant property, as well as the risk of damage to other adjacent or neighboring properties.
(C) Prior to determining any property to be a vacant property within the meaning of this section, the village shall first issue notice to the owner of such property advising that the property appears to be vacant and a public nuisance pursuant to the provisions of this section, and that the owner should contact the village immediately with respect to such property. Such notice shall be posted in some reasonably prominent place on such property, and simultaneously sent by regular U.S. mail to the address of the owner of record, as determined by reference to the records of the Will County Treasurer, the Will County Recorder, the Will County Clerk, the Circuit Clerk for the 12th Judicial Circuit, or any of them.
(D) In the event that the village receives no response or communication from the owner within five business days (defined as Monday through Friday, exclusive of holidays or other days on which the village is closed by law or ordinance), the village may at any time thereafter determine that the property in question is a vacant property and public nuisance pursuant to this section.
(E) At such time as the village determines that a property is a vacant property and a public nuisance, the village may at any time thereafter abate such nuisance and immediately disconnect such property from the public water system of the village. Notice that the disconnection has taken place shall be provided to the owner as set forth in division (C) of this section.
(F) Once a vacant property has been disconnected from the public water system pursuant to this section, it shall not be reconnected until such time as the vacant property has been inspected by the village and determined to be in compliance with all applicable village ordinances. The applicable fee for a reconnection shall be the same as established by ordinance for reconnection after disconnection for non payment of bills for water service.
(Ord. 09-0748, passed 2-4-09)