Freeburg — Ch. 29 Property Maintenance Policy § 29-1-21
STORAGE YARDS AND AREAS
Operative Text
(A) Enclosure of Storage Yards. All open storage yards and areas shall be completely obscured from view by surrounding property by a solid fence (such as wood or slatted chain link) not less than six feet in height. This Section shall not apply to areas where licensed, registered motor vehicles that are in good, safe and operable condition are operated on a regular basis. In those areas, a fence of not less than six feet in height is required. (B) Nuisance. Unsheltered storage of old, unused, stripped, junked and other motor vehicles not in good, safe and operable condition, and of any other vehicles, machinery, implement and/or equipment and personal property of any kind which is no longer safely usable for the purposes for which it was manufactured, which hereinafter are collectively described as "the personalty," for a period of 30 days or more, except in licensed junk yards, within the corporate limits of the Village, is hereby declared to be a nuisance and dangerous to the public safety. (C) Abatement of Nuisance by Owners. The owner, owners, tenants, lessees and/or occupants of any lot within the corporate limits of the Village upon which the storage is made, and also the owner, owners and/or lessees of the personalty involved in the storage (all of whom are hereinafter referred to collectively as "owners"), shall jointly and severally abate the nuisance by the prompt removal of the personalty into completely enclosed buildings authorized to be used for the storage purposes, if within the corporate limits of the Village, or otherwise to remove it to a location outside the corporate limits. (D) Penalty for Failure of Owner to Abate the Nuisance. If the owners allow the nuisance to exist or fail to abate the nuisance, the, and each of them, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $50.00, nor more than $500.00, for each offense and a separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which the nuisance is permitted to exist. (E) Abatement by Village. (1) Whenever the owners fail to abate the nuisance, then the Village shall remove the personalty to a location of its selection, the expenses therefore to be billed to the owners, jointly and severally, the bill to be recoverable in a suit at law. (2) When the personalty has been removed and placed in storage by the Village, as provided for herein, the personalty shall be sold by the Village after the lapse of time as is provided by law. If the proceeds of the sale are insufficient to pay the costs of abatement, the owners shall be liable to the Village for the balance of the costs, jointly and severally to be recoverable in a suit at law. If the proceeds are in excess of costs, the balance shall be paid to the owners or deposited in the Village Treasury for their use. Cross reference-- Penalty, see § 29-1-63 .
Freeburg Ch. 29 § 29-1-21 establishes rules for open storage yards and the outdoor storage of inoperable or junked vehicles and equipment. Any open storage yard must be screened from neighboring properties by a solid fence at least six feet tall, and storing non-operational vehicles, machinery, or similar personal property outdoors for 30 or more days is declared a public nuisance. If the responsible parties do not remove or properly enclose the offending items, the Village itself may step in to remove them and recover its costs through legal action.
Plain English — not legal advice.
Under Freeburg Ch. 29 § 29-1-21, property owners and managers generally ensure that any open storage areas on their properties are enclosed by a solid, sight-obscuring fence of at least six feet in height. Compliant operators also avoid allowing inoperable, junked, or stripped vehicles and non-functional equipment to remain outdoors on their properties for 30 days or more, as this constitutes a declared nuisance. Keeping storage areas properly screened and free of long-term unsheltered junk helps operators avoid fines ranging from $50 to $500 per day and potential Village-initiated removal with billed costs.
General guidance for property managers — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult an attorney for advice on your case.
Freeburg Ch. 29 § 29-1-21 makes clear that tenants and occupants share responsibility — alongside property owners and lessees — for abating nuisances created by outdoor storage of inoperable vehicles or non-functional equipment on a lot. Tenants who become aware of such conditions on their property may want to understand that each day the nuisance persists can be treated as a separate offense carrying daily fines, and that the Village may remove the items and bill all responsible parties jointly. Tenants with questions about their obligations or rights under this provision may find it helpful to consult a tenant-rights organization or review the Village's enforcement procedures.
General guidance for tenants — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult a tenant-rights organization or attorney for advice on your case.
Generated November 9, 2026 — auto-generated, not yet human-reviewed. See /transparency for methodology.
Effective Timeline
References In
Rules and statutes that cite this regulation