Vacant Buildings

Vacant Building Registration

Requirement

Pursuant to Ordinance 110-O-03 of Title 4, Chapter 16 of the City Code, any building which has been determined to be a "Vacant Building” must be registered with the City of Evanston. Please review the City of Evanston's ordinance at the following link for more detailed information regarding our requirements:

• Vacant Buildings Ordinance

The following criteria contained in the City's ordinance aid in determining the vacancy status of a building:

• VACANT BUILDING: A building or portion of a building which is:
  • (A) Unoccupied and unsecured; or
  • B) Unoccupied and secured by boarding or other similar means; or
  • C) Unoccupied and a dangerous structure; or
  • (D) Unoccupied and condemned by the director pursuant to applicable provisions of this code; or
  • (E) Unoccupied and has multiple code violations; or
  • (F) Unoccupied and the building or its premises has been the site of unlawful activity within the previous six (6) months; or
  • (G) Condemned by the director and unlawfully occupied; or
  • (H) Unoccupied for over one hundred eighty (180) days and during which time the director has issued an order to correct public nuisance conditions and same have not been corrected in a code compliant manner; or
  • (I) Unoccupied for over two (2) years.
  • But not including: Unoccupied buildings which are undergoing construction, renovation, or rehabilitation and which are in compliance with all applicable ordinances, codes, legislation, and regulations, and for which construction, renovation or rehabilitation is proceeding diligently to completion. 

Application

Vacant building registrations are processed by the Property Standards group within Community Development. The application to register a vacant building is now available through the City of Evanston's online licensing/permitting portal. Please use the following link to access the site, login using your credentials (or register as a user, if needed), and navigate to the Property Standards tab to access the "Vacant Building Registration" application.

• Citizen Portal - Property Standards