DES PLAINES
Council approves tenant restrictions
Problem tenants are the targets of new regulations approved by the City Council.
At a meeting Monday, aldermen approved changes to an ordinance that allows a rental unit to be considered a nuisance if there are three complaints in six months. Among the crimes that would trigger the provisions of the ordinance are prostitution, disorderly conduct, criminal damage to property and drug offenses, said Police Chief James Prandini.
The ordinance allows the city to suspend a landlord’s rental license for up to six months if nothing is done about the nuisance.
Aldermen also voted to adopt a voluntary program for the city’s 577 landlords that would help them remove problem tenants. After attending an eight-hour training seminar dealing with issues such as the screening of tenants and combating gangs and drugs, landlords would receive a 10 percent discount on their rental-license fees.
Landlords now pay a $20 licensing fee for each unit in a multifamily building — $200 for a 10-unit building — or $100 for a rental house.
Under the program, landlords also could require tenants to sign a lease addendum requiring eviction after repeated allegations of criminal activities.
Mark Shuman
PROSPECT HEIGHTS
Vacant seat filled on airport board
Former Ald. Darlene Ahlstedt has been appointed to one of two vacant seats on the troubled Chicago Executive Airport Board.
Ahlstedt’s appointment was approved unanimously Monday by the City Council. She replaces L. James Wylie, the board’s vice chairman who resigned earlier this month.
“She’s very well respected and basically an authority on the airport,” said acting Mayor Patrick Ludvigsen, who made the appointment.
From 2003 to 2005, Ahlstedt was a member of an advisory commission that oversaw operations at Chicago Executive Airport, then known as Palwaukee Municipal. The commission has been replaced by a seven-member airport board.
Ahlstedt joins Ralph Shepstone and City Manager Pam Arrigoni as the Prospect Heights representatives on the board.
The airport is owned jointly by Prospect Heights and Wheeling, but their relationship has been strained since late last year. Wheeling’s representatives on the board have criticized payments made to an airport consultant.
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Graydon Megan
HOFFMAN ESTATES
Sears Centre lot expansion OKd
Sears Centre officials have won approval to expand its two parking lots by narrowing most of the spaces and removing landscape islands.
The moves would accommodate an additional 499 cars and reduce the need for off-site parking. It also will save money spent on extra police officers, parking staff and shuttle buses, arena officials said.
Under the plan, approved Monday by the Village Board, the arena at 5333 Prairie Stone Parkway would expand its west parking lot by 397 spaces and east lot by 102, increasing parking to 2,972 spaces from 2,473.
Spaces will be added in the west lot by removing all the internal landscape islands and moving the trees elsewhere on the property, narrowing spaces to 8 1/2 feet from 9 feet and narrowing the width of the driving aisle to 21 feet from 23 feet.
In the east lot, the parking spaces will be narrowed, and a bus parking area removed.
Ken Manson