Demolition Ordinance Demolition of houses (and other buildings) in Downers Grove is regulated in Section 7 of the Municipal Code. The Code requires a permit for demolition and sets out the process and requirements to get one. There are also a number of provisions about management of demolition sites. The Village is about to consider a number of staff recommendations about the site-management part. These recommendations will be considered at the Village Council workshop meeting on Tuesday, June 27th, 6:30 PM at Village Hall. The staff recommendations would: 1. Require the installation of a 6-foot chain link fence around the perimeter of a residential site (rather than the orange plastic snow fence you see now, which as the staff report says, "typically fall down"). 2. Require the applicant to submit and adhere to a parking plan. (Presumably about parking of construction vehicles.) 3. Require the applicant to post a notice of rules and regulations sign to inform the neighboring residents of the regulations and provide them contact information to report concerns. 4. Require the applicant to establish and maintain a $3,000 site management account which the Village could deduct from for fines and extra expenses if there is noncompliance. 5. Limit the construction activity to the permitted property. (This would seem to go without saying, but evidently a specific provision is needed to discourage trespassing on neighboring properties.) 6. Require the installation of a portable toilet and dumpster at specific locations (a minimum of five feet from the front and side lot lines). 7. Provide the Village the ability to clean the streets and sidewalks if the applicant fails to do so (and charge them for it via deduction from the site management account). 8. Establish fees and fines for certain violations: DGCMR would like to see, in addition to these changes, consideration of other provisions either now or in the future: A. Linking issuance of a demolition permit to a plan for redevelopment. Before you knock down what's there, let's see what will go up in its place. Does the plan conform to building and zoning codes? This may help avoid properties going into "limbo." B. Better public notice. Neighbors up and down the block should be notified of a planned demolition and have an opportunity to see the redevelopment plan (see point A). C. Historic preservation. This should be considered in conjuction with development of a historic preservation ordinance: provide an opportunity for preservation concerns to be raised when a demolition permit is requested. Provide a means to delay the permit long enough for these concerns to be considered and addressed appropriately. For lot splits, make clear that historic preservation is an aspect of "public health, safety and welfare" that may be considered by the Plan Commission and Village Council in determining whether to grant permission. D. Tree preservation. Village staff have previously made recommendations that would require a tree preservation plan be filed in conjunction with redevelopment projects. This would help avoid unnecessary and arbitrary "clear cutting" of properties, which has occurred in the past. The Council has failed to act on this recommendation. E. Impact fee. The Village should consider imposing a hefty (say, $10,000) impact fee for demolition permits, as some other communities have done. This would serve notice that the Village considers demolition a serious matter, not to be done lightly. It would also provide a source of revenue for code enforcement activities, and provide an incentive (however slight) to encourage rehabbing a property rather than tearing it down.
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