Some property owners avoid vegetation fines
A Robbins municipal court hearing officer sided with two property owners, finding they didn’t violate a new village ordinance aimed at controlling overgrown vegetation on properties.
George Vlasis and Howard Brown faced fines of up to $500 and costs of clearing large trees on lots they own, which do not have houses on them.
Vlasis, a real estate broker from Oak Lawn, had a master arborist testify during a municipal court hearing Thursday that she couldn’t find any troubled trees on the property.
Howard Brown simply stood in front of hearing officer Samuel Jackson and pleaded his case, and was also found innocent of violating the ordinance.
Brown told Jackson his property is “very clean,” showing him photos of the lot, which Brown said is mowed regularly.
“It’s a beautiful piece of land, there’s nothing wrong with it,” Brown told him.
Vlasis said he was happy with the outcome but was prepared to go further had the hearing officer found him guilty. His attorney, Michael Walsh, had brought along a court reporter for Thursday’s
hearing.
“It was our plan that if we got a negative ruling, we were going to take this to circuit court,” Vlasis said.
The ordinance targeting vegetation took effect in mid-June and Robbins Mayor Darren Bryant previously said it is meant to clear “nuisance trees and nuisance shrubbery” on lots, calling the overgrown vegetation hazards to public health and safety.
Several other property owners cited under the ordinance didn’t show up for the hearing, and Jackson handed out fines of $250 or $500.
Walsh, argued the citation was too vague regarding what vegetation on the property was in violation of the ordinance.
“It would be like writing a speeding ticket and not putting the speed in,” said Walsh, who is a former village hearing officer in Oak Lawn.
The ordinance “shifts the burden to the defendant,” and that “without any specifics it makes it difficult to comply,” Walsh said.
Robbins code enforcement officer Corey Baker told Jackson the vegetation is laid out in the village ordinance, and asked, rhetorically, if the entire language of the ordinance should be included on each citation.
Vlasis and Brown previously said they believed the village ordinance unfairly targeted properties on South Central Park Avenue, where their lots are located, although at the hearing there were vegetation tickets for properties on other streets, including Central Park as well Francisco, Lydia and Spaulding avenues.
The ordinance aims to “regulate and provide for the removal of hazardous and nuisance vegetation.”
If property owners don’t remove the overgrowth, the village can come in and do it and the property owner would be billed for the cost in the form of a lien on the property.
Ann Dalrymple, the arborist Vlasis hired to inspect his lot, told Jackson that she looked over trees on the property and “did not find anything that warranted attention,” such as dead, dying or diseased trees.