Board reviews update to International Property Maintenance Code and draft parkway/native-garden rules

Oak Park staff presented a study session on updating the village's property maintenance code from the 2009 edition of the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) to the 2024 edition and introduced a proposed parkway ordinance that would clarify maintenance responsibilities and explicitly allow cultivated and native gardens in public parkways without a permit.

Code Compliance Manager Tina Brown described changes in the 2024 IPMC, including updated definitions, enhanced enforcement mechanisms, and new provisions on smoke-alarm replacement and storm-shelter maintenance. The draft local amendments staff recommended would add definitions (for example, "cultivated garden"), clarify that the owner or the owner's designated agent is the responsible party for property compliance, and provide code-official authority for inspections and tests.

Chief Sustainability Officer Lindsay Noratka outlined the proposed parkway ordinance, which would: (1) clarify that parkway trees and shrubs remain the village forester's responsibility under the Forestry Code; (2) clarify that adjacent property owners must maintain the non-tree portions of parkways consistent with the IPMC and the new definitions; and (3) allow cultivated and native gardens within parkways without a permit, subject to sight-line and public-safety restrictions. The draft also includes outreach plans to help residents design native plantings and links to a native-plant sale program the village is supporting.

Trustees broadly supported the sustainability goals but raised several issues staff agreed to address before formal adoption. Trustee Buchanan objected to a suggested requirement on "turf maintenance areas" that would have prohibited bare soil areas and suggested the language risked encouraging fertilizer and pesticide use; staff said they would reword the provision to focus on safety issues such as deep ruts and other hazards rather than cosmetic turf standards. Trustees also asked staff to clarify how the cultivated/native-garden definitions would interact with the code's weed-height standard (plants over eight inches) and whether the village would enforce no-mow initiatives such as "No Mow May." Staff said enforcement practice (education first, escalation for repeat noncompliance) would guide field work and that they would propose clearer code text and an outreach plan so property owners, neighbors and enforcement staff share a common understanding.

Board members asked that the draft tie parkway sight-line limitations to the village's Vision Zero and public works standards; staff said Public Works and the forester had been involved in drafting and that staff will cross-check the sight-line language with Vision Zero guidance.

Staff said the Building Code Advisory Commission recommended adoption of the 2024 IPMC in April 2024 and that the village conducted outreach in January and hosted an open house for building owners and managers. Staff will revise the draft to reflect board direction (turf language, cultivated/native-garden definitions, enforcement/No Mow May guidance and sight-line cross-checks) and return the ordinance to the board for formal consideration at a future regular meeting.