Eleven vehicles being stored at Aaron’s Creve Coeur Self-Storage in Creve Coeur, Ill., were red-tagged by local police last week for violating the village’s ordinance on “nuisance vehicles.” The regulation is designed to keep the town clean from abandoned, inoperable or unused vehicles, but storage owner Kermit Forseth believes tagging vehicles belonging to his tenants is going too far, he told the source.

August 4, 2016

2 Min Read
Creve Coeur, IL, Self-Storage Owner 'Sees Red' Over Vehicle Code-Violation Tags

Eleven vehicles being stored at Aaron’s Creve Coeur Self-Storage in Creve Coeur, Ill., were red-tagged by local police last week for violating the village’s ordinance on “nuisance vehicles.” The regulation is designed to keep the town clean from abandoned, inoperable or unused vehicles, but storage owner Kermit Forseth believes tagging vehicles belonging to his tenants is going too far, he told the source.

Among the vehicles tagged at 308 Wesley Road were two boats and two RVs. Although some of the vehicles belong to Forseth, others are tenant property. Some are inoperable, but all are repairable, he told the source. “There aren’t even any houses around here,” Forseth said. “It doesn’t look bad. It’s a storage business.”

The police department took over the code enforcement earlier this year after the village eliminated its code-enforcer position. During the red-tagging sweep, officers focused primarily on car-oriented businesses on Main Street, tagging 82 vehicles, the source reported. Most were on the property of Dellert’s Garage and Auto Sales.

Each tag instructs the owner to remove the vehicle within seven days or face towing and fines. Pending a hearing, seized vehicles may also be sold by the village, although Police Chief Dale King said that’s not the department’s intention. Instead, officials want to see areas cleaned up and have given businesses more than a week to comply. “We’re working with [the businesses],” King told the source. “I’ve told them what to do. As long as I see progress, then we’re not going to do anything [such as towing].”

Although self-storage owner Bill Nolan, who operates Creve Coeur Mini Storage next door to Forseth’s business, hasn’t had any vehicles tagged, he told the source he may join others in hiring an attorney to fight the ordinance.

Sources:

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