Evanston, IL Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)

The vacant-lot standard sits inside Evanston's local amendments to the 2021 IBC at City Code § 4-2-2. 1 spells out the mechanics whenever a building is wrecked, demolished, or razed. Before the City issues a wrecking permit, the owner must deposit escrow funds, in an amount the Director of Community Development sets, to guarantee the grading, topsoil, seeding, sodding, and/or fencing of the resulting open ground; if the owner does not do the work, the City draws on the escrow to finish it. The owner must also deliver water meters to the Utilities Department before demolition starts, arrange a hydrant hose or water truck on site to control dust, and give written notice of the start date to the Community Development Director and to owners and occupants of adjoining property at least forty-eight hours before wrecking begins.

All foundations and footings must be removed and inspected by the Building Official before backfilling, and demolition debris cannot sit on site longer than seven days after the structure comes down. If no new construction commences within sixty days of completion, the owner has fifteen days to seed or sod the lot and must pull the temporary construction fence within fifteen days after that. 3 (adopted at City Code § 5-1-3) requires vacant land generally to be kept clean, safe, secure, and sanitary so it does not become a blighting problem, and directs registered vacant structures to the additional Title 4, Chapter 16 vacant-buildings program.