Council reviews first reading of right-of-way maintenance ordinance to clarify homeowner duties

Village staff introduced a first reading of an ordinance that would clarify homeowners’ responsibility to maintain grass and vegetation in public rights-of-way between their property lines and adjacent roadways. The measure grew out of code-enforcement work that identified parcels where vegetation along East State Road and other rights-of-way was overgrown. Staff said the draft language is modeled on ordinances used by nearby municipalities and would assign maintenance responsibility to the adjoining property owner for the strip between the property line and the roadway. Residents asked whether East State Road homeowners would bear a unique burden. Staff and council members replied that the intent is not to single out one street but to clarify responsibilities villagewide; staff said existing ordinance language did not clearly address some county-owned right-of-way situations and that the update fills that gap. Enforcement and equity: council members raised enforcement and fairness questions — whether other neighborhoods already maintain their strips voluntarily and how the village would handle properties in foreclosure or abandoned lots. Staff said enforcement will be conducted through the village’s code process and that practical resource limits (public-works manpower) make the ordinance necessary to ensure consistent maintenance. Council action: the ordinance was presented as a first reading; no vote on final adoption occurred. Next steps: staff will return with final language and implementation details for a subsequent reading; the codified code project also identified this gap and informed the proposed text.