A. Within sixty (60) days after the effective date of this article, the Code Enforcement Official shall evaluate all buildings in the village he or she believes to be unoccupied on the effective date of this article and make a determination for each as to whether the building is a vacant building within the meaning of this article. The determination shall be in writing and shall state the factual basis for the determination. For buildings the Code Enforcement Official determines to be vacant buildings, she/he shall, within seven (7) days of making that determination, send notice of the written determination with the factual findings to the last taxpayer of record listed on the most recent DuPage County tax roll. Said notice of determination shall be sent certified mail, return receipt requested. Failure of delivery shall not excuse a person from complying with this article. Any person making such service shall execute an affidavit attesting to the facts of service. The Code Enforcement Official shall maintain an affidavit of such mailing for each notice of determination sent. This procedure shall be followed for all building evaluations subsequent to the initial 60 day period.
B. The Code Enforcement Official shall cause an inspection of the interior of all vacant buildings to determine compliance with village health and fire codes.
C. The notice of determination shall set a tentative date and time for the code-compliance inspection of the interior of the vacant building to determine the extent of compliance with village health and fire codes. After receipt of the notice of determination, if the owner does not appeal the determination, the owner shall either confirm the tentative date for the inspection or shall schedule a new date and time for same. If the owner fails to confirm the tentative date and time for the inspection or refuses to schedule or permit the inspection it shall be the responsibility of the village to obtain an administrative search warrant to accomplish the inspection.
D. The village shall charge the owner a fee of five hundred dollars ($500.00) to offset the cost to the village of said inspection. The owner shall pay the inspection fee to the village within thirty (30) days of receipt of the bill for same.
E. The notice of determination shall contain a statement of the obligations of the owner of a building determined to be a vacant building, a copy of the registration form the owner is required to file pursuant to § 7-1006 and a notice of the owner's right to appeal the determination. (Ord. 2019-08-20, 8-15-2019)