Lake Forest code enforcement reports spike in property cases, details vendor enforcement and neighborhood initiatives

Acting Code Enforcement Supervisor Winston Nkuruga told the Lake Forest Planning Commission on March 6 that code enforcement closed most 2024 cases but is seeing a rising share of property-maintenance complaints tied to aging housing and economic pressures.

Nkuruga, presenting the city's 2024 code-enforcement activity report, said public nuisance complaints (including noise, short-term rental and business violations) made up the largest category of cases, while property maintenance (graffiti, substandard housing and landscaping) was the second-largest category.

The presentation described two separate case-count snapshots. For the second half of 2024, staff said the division carried over 65 cases from the first half, opened 280 new cases and closed 309, leaving 136 active cases at year-end. For the full 2024 calendar year, staff reported opening 552 cases and closing 525, leaving 36 cases pending at year end. Nkuruga said the differences reflect the two reporting windows: second-half metrics versus full-year totals.

Nkuruga told the commission the average age of homes in Lake…