Machesney Park OKs new junk car law

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Vehicles that are not street legal or are broken down must be kept in garages.

By Kevin Haas
RRSTAR.COM

MACHESNEY PARK — If your car doesn’t belong on the street, then it can’t stay in your driveway either.

The Machesney Park Village Board voted unanimously Monday in favor of a new law that requires broken-down vehicles or ones that aren’t street legal to be stored inside a garage. Violators face fines.

The goal for village officials is to improve the look of neighborhoods and increase property values by keeping potentially unsightly vehicles out of sight.

Some residents approve
Residents Karen and Don Schmoll said they were pleased to see the law pass because inoperable cars can be a neighborhood eyesore.

“I didn’t build a $160,000 home and move into a decent neighborhood so that I can have junk parked next door to me in the driveway,” Don Schmoll said.

They said broken down vehicles that are allowed to be kept outside of a garage can also lower property values.

Others have complained the law is burdensome for those who can’t afford to make repairs immediately.

“We live in a developing subdivision that’s still not filled in,” Don Schmoll said. “It should affect the people that are out there looking to buy a new home, too, because they don’t want to see that either.”

It’s a tougher version of the village’s previous law, which allowed inoperable vehicles to be stored within an enclosure.

Tougher law helps police
The previous law allowed broken down cars, stock cars and all-terrain vehicles to sit in driveways, so long as they were surrounded by a fence or covered with a tarp. Those vehicles must all be stored within a garage now.

The new law helps sheriff’s police and the village enforce complaints from residents, said Deputy Chief Rocco Wagner, who leads the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department’s Machesney Division.

Staff writer Kevin Haas can be reached at khaas@rrstar.com or 815-987-1354.

What you need to know
The new law: All inoperable motor vehicles, whether on public or private property, must be stored in a garage. Any not stored in a garage will be declared a public nuisance.

What it applies to: Vehicles that are unable to move under their own power for at least 10 days. It also applies to vehicles that are not “street operable,” which means they lack necessary equipment to operate legally on public roads. That includes stock cars and all-terrain vehicles.

Penalties: The village may tow the vehicle after 10 days’ notice. The owner will be charged a $200 administrative fee and additional fees to cover towing and storage costs.

The village also could issue a $100 fine for a first offense. A second offense could result in a $200 fine, with a third offense costing $500. Each day the vehicle is not moved can be considered a separate offense.

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