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Many offenses would be added to list of nuisance triggers

The Elgin Police Department wants to add teeth to the city’s nuisance abatement ordinance to better address properties where they say landlords are unresponsive to making changes.

Offenses proposed to be considered nuisances are as wide-ranging as gang activity, drug activity, overcrowding, graffiti, loitering, noise and animal offenses.

The current ordinance states that Elgin can start legal proceedings to force evacuation of a property for up to 180 days if there are three nuisance incidents within 120 days.

Police propose increasing that time frame to one year, to allow more flexibility to enforce the ordinance.

The goal is always to resolve issues through mediation, Elgin Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said. “This is not about taking people’s homes. It’s about problem-solving.”

The city council’s committee of the whole unanimously approved the changes earlier this week.

Right now, there is probably one property in Elgin that would meet the tougher criteria, Elgin Police Cmdr. Ana Lalley said.

Among the 20 nuisance cases initiated against landlords since 2005, most were resolved through mediation and only one required legal action, Lalley said. That case ended when the property went into foreclosure, she said.

“This ordinance would be used for the most chronic, egregious properties,” she said. “Most property owners when contacted by the police department want to resolved the issue and cooperate.”

Elgin Mayor David Kaptain said he asked staff to look into a stronger nuisance ordinance more than two years ago, after a resident approached him, in tears, about a problematic property.

“This home had over 300 visits by the police department and the code department in one year, and we couldn’t do anything about it because we couldn’t trigger the nuisance ordinance,” he said.

The proposed changes are based on Aurora’s ordinance, Lalley said.

The changes would give police a real tool, Corporation Counsel William Cogley said.

“It’s the kinds of activities that drive neighbors crazy with an irresponsible property owner and nonresponsive tenants.”

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