Kane County approves new maintenance law

Neglectful homeowners in unincorporated areas could be fined $500 under a new law approved by the Kane County Board Tuesday.

The 15-page ordinance prohibits excessive weeds, junk and trash on lawns, open burning of landscape waste and garbage and animal fighting, among other nuisances, on the exterior of properties.

Officials from the city of Aurora and Aurora Township approached county officials last year about working together to create and enforce a county property maintenance code that would target neglected properties in unincorporated Aurora Township. A county-led committee was formed to study the issue.

It's a hot-button topic in Aurora, where dozens of unincorporated neighborhoods are surrounded on all sides by the city. Aurora's property maintenance code applies only within city limits; the city has no jurisdiction over unincorporated areas.

The new code goes into effect May 1. Citizen complaints will drive enforcement, county officials said. Another inspector is expected to be hired next year.

Although officials only started working on the ordinance last year, the issue has been discussed off and on at the county level for more than a dozen years. Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay called the measure "overdue."

"This is something I've worked on for a long time," said board member Paul Greviskes, an Aurora Democrat. "In community groups, this is probably the single most important issue."

Aurora spokeswoman Carie Anne Ergo said city officials are glad the county approved the code, because now "unincorporated areas are held to the same level of property standards as incorporated areas of the county."