County to address hoarding, eyesore properties

Eyesore and vacant properties are the targets of a new Kane County task force announced Tuesday to address maintenance issues spawned by the burst of the housing bubble and vehicle hoarders/collectors.

Kane County Board member John Hoscheit proposed changes to the county’s property maintenance code last month to address loopholes for several recurring problems. But those changes stalled when other board members suggested a one-size-fits-all approach to property maintenance may not make sense given the contrasts in space and lifestyles between the highly urban and very rural parts of the county.

County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay announced the creation of a Property Maintenance Task Force to find the middle ground. The group will examine a loophole in county laws that allow an unlimited number of vehicles to be parked outside a property. The vehicles must be in operable condition and parked on paved or gravel surface under the current law. That’s left the county with no legal recourse for at least one home near Wayne that county board members have referred to as a “junkyard.”

The task force is also charged with solving the dilemma of the many new, residential construction projects left unfinished when the economy tanked. County permits for such projects expire after two years or six months of inactivity. But that doesn’t provide a remedy for what to do with half-finished vacant homes that become health hazards, magnets for crime or infested with critters. The county has some incomplete housing projects that date back as far as 2004.

McConnaughay has also directed the task force to examine all the county’s laws and policies that need updating to account for previously unforeseen property maintenance problems that developed when the housing bubble burst.

County board member Mike Donahue will be the chairman of the task force. Joining him will be county board members Maggie Auger, Mike Kenyon, T.R. Smith and Jesse Vazquez.

The first meeting of the task force has not yet been announced. Once the task force completes its work, it will report recommendations to the county board’s Development Committee for further debate.

The full county board must approve any final changes to county laws or policies.