Is Darien Front Yard A Blight On Town?

DARIEN, IL – A Darien alderman asked Monday about the city's powers to regulate what residents store in their front yards.

At a City Council meeting, Ward 2 Alderman Lester Vaughan said he received a complaint from a constituent about how the neighbors keep their yard.

The neighbors, Vaughan said, keep toys and pools in their front yard. And they have multiple dumpsters throughout the year, he said.

"When does it get to the point where it's a blight on the community?" Vaughan asked City Administrator Bryon Vana.

"That's an art, not a science," Vana responded.

He said the city can regulate structures and debris, but it has no authority to keep property owners from storing small playhouses or baby pools in the front yard.

To address such situations, the council would have to change the city code, he said.

"Anything we look at has to be really specific, and it should have a reason," Vana said. "If someone painted their house pink and it looked obnoxious to the neighborhood, they have a right to do that."

Vana said he had not heard of similar issues at any other house in town. He suggested sitting down with the neighbors in question and talking to them.

Vaughan said there was a conversation.

"I guess the response was, 'We know someone in the city,'" the alderman said.

Vana said the neighbors' statement was not true because the city had sent notices to them before about other code issues.

"What is there right now is no violation," Vana said.

Mayor Joseph Marchese recalled a situation last year in which neighbors were upset with one homeowner who had bricks and old tires stacked in the driveway and three flat tires on his car.

"We sent a code enforcement officer over there, and the bricks went away, the tires went away and the car went away," the mayor said. "We were able to get that person to change that by communicating with them regarding how bad it looked."