Carpentersville keeping up with the codes

The sight of village hall barely vanishes from the white van's rearview mirror when Trustee Judy Sigwalt calls for Craig Martin to stop the vehicle.

Martin, the village's senior code enforcement officer, hits the brakes.

Passengers in the van -- Trustee Kay Teeter, Community Development Director Cindy McCammack, and resident Pat Schultz -- lurch forward.

Sigwalt points to a large boat stored beside a house.

"That has to be a violation," Sigwalt says.

The boat, though in disrepair and an eyesore to the average resident, violates no village codes.

Martin explains the vessel is sitting atop a hard surface -- not grass -- and is located alongside the house, set back slightly from the front.

"Well, that is why we are here: to learn what is and what is not a violation," Sigwalt says.

Sigwalt, Teeter and Schultz were touring the Old Town and East Side areas of the village Wednesday night to learn how code enforcement functions.

The trio are initiators of the Carpentersville Improvement Committee.

The group, consisting of two trustees and three resident members, will serve as an extra set of eyes for the village's community development department and code enforcement officials, Sigwalt said.

"There are 11,000 rooftops in the village, and there are not enough code officers to manage a village this size," Sigwalt said. "Just like we help out the police department, we will help with code enforcement."

While committee members would not issue citations, they would alert code enforcement to certain problems.

During the 90-minute tour, Martin stopped and jotted down more than a dozen addresses and various violations for issues such as cars parked on lawns, an electrical wire too close to a swimming pool and unsightly yards.

Although the tour was limited to the east side, Martin said code problems also occur on the west side.

"There are issues the further west you go," Martin said. "But they are zoning things like building without a permit or building decks."

McCammack, who has worked in the department for the past four years, said historically, code enforcement focused on tall grass and garbage, not structures.

"Just like with the roads, we are playing catch-up," McCammack said.

Near the end of the tour, Martin stops in front of a house overrun with weeds and overgrown shrubs. He gives a synopsis of the situation inside the home -- identifying reasons why some people are unable to comply with codes.

"Some people want to improve their homes, but they don't have the financial ability to do so," McCammack chimes in. "We get them in contact with the right resources."

Finding those resources and directing residents who qualify to them is one role trustees say the improvement committee will focus on.

"The assumption is when things are in disarray, people don't care," Teeter said. "But that is not always the case. The purpose of the group is not to criticize but to be solution seekers."