Village of Peotone begins new process for Code Enforcement; Seeking compliance over ticketing

The Village of Peotone is announcing the start of code enforcement “sweeps” this week as part of a new effort to seek compliance with Village codes for businesses and residents. The Village board recently approved a contract with B&F Construction Code Services, Inc. to conduct property maintenance enforcement. This follows the departure of a Village staff person who previously was charged with these duties.

“The departure of the previous staff person gave the Mayor and the Board the opportunity to reconsider how we were doing code enforcement in the Village,” said Village administrator Nick Palmer. “We believe this expanded scope of work for B&F will be both more cost effective and efficient for the Village.”

B&F already does permit approvals and plan reviews of construction projects for Peotone, but the approval of the property management, or code enforcement, work adds some additional duties to their scope of work. As opposed to paying a full-time employee a salary plus insurance and benefits, the Village now will only pay B&F staff an hourly rate to conduct periodic sweeps of town and follow-up activities to seek compliance with the Village Code.

“We have stressed to B&F through our Village Administrator that the goal of this work is compliance not excessive ticketing of our residents and businesses,” said Mayor Peter March. “We also have set a high expectation for professionalism and politeness when these enforcement personnel are out engaging with residents and business owners.”

The Village expects B&F staff to conduct initial sweeps throughout the entire Village where they will identify any code violations. These enforcement staff will inform the owner of the issue and of the need to correct the violation. After fourteen days if the violation is not corrected, then B&F staff will formally notify the residents of the violation. If not corrected after another seven days, the violation will continue to escalate and could end up before an administrative adjudication hearing officer. The frequency of these sweeps will depend on the need for these investigations.

“Residents can always report code enforcement complaints to the Village via our website (www.villageofpeotone.com) or by contacting Village Hall. Our goal is to keep Peotone as a great place to live, work, and raise our families,” said Administrator Palmer. “If anyone has concerns or questions, please feel free to reach out to me to discuss further.”