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Burr Ridge board amends nuisance code to curb commercial landscaping on holidays after Thanksgiving noise complaint
Summary
On Dec. 8, 2025 the Burr Ridge mayor and board adopted an amendment to Section 38 of the municipal code to restrict commercial outside maintenance on holidays, add snow-clearing exemptions and align fines with other code provisions; the measure passed on a 5-0 roll-call vote.
The Burr Ridge mayor and board of trustees voted Dec. 8 to amend Section 38 of the municipal code to clarify rules for commercial outside maintenance and to preempt commercial landscaping work on holidays.
Trustee Francis, who asked that the provision be revisited after landscapers worked near his home on Thanksgiving, told the board he recorded the noise at his front step: "80 decibels on my front step." He said commercial crews including backpack leaf blowers ran from about 1 p.m. until dusk and that, under the existing ordinance, that work was permitted.
Staff told the board the proposed amendment would (1) remove holidays from the set of days on which commercial outside maintenance is automatically permitted, (2) explicitly exempt snow-clearing and other safety-related work, (3) make the violation penalty consistent with other fines by raising it from $50 to up to $750 per day, and (4) clarify that residents performing work on their own property remain exempt.
The discussion included competing concerns: one board member asked for stricter daily hours (proposing 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to match Saturday rules and to exclude Sundays), while another warned the change could raise rates for landscaping customers because contractors would have fewer available work hours. Mayor Grasso said the topic warranted more discussion but moved the ordinance forward at the meeting after trustees reached agreement on the main revision as presented.
The motion to approve the ordinance was moved and seconded and passed on a roll-call vote recorded in the minutes as Trustees Smith, Snyder, Francis, Schiappa and Pavezza voting yes; Trustee Mitel was absent. The mayor said the board would revisit Trustee Smith’s additional suggestions early in 2026.
The ordinance as approved keeps residential self-maintenance exempt, clarifies snow-removal exceptions and raises the possible fine to align with other municipal violations. The board did not adopt a specific new hour window at the Dec. 8 meeting; members asked staff to return with refined language for further consideration.
The ordinance amendment takes effect according to the village’s standard codification process and staff said implementation language and enforcement procedures would be clarified in follow-up memos to the board.
