A village committee has backed away from a proposal to impound vehicles when car stereos can be heard 75 feet or more away.
“We as a Police Department would not like to do that,” Chief Robert Lowen told members of the Ordinance Committee last week.
The committee was asked by the Village Board to consider adopting a noise ordinance similar to one in Elgin because of complaints about blaring stereos. In Elgin, offenders face a $250 fine and risk having their vehicles impounded.
“I think confiscating a car is pretty heavy-handed,” said Trustee John Noverini, a member of the committee.
Lowen told the committee that stepping up enforcement of existing state and local laws that call for police to write a citation is more sensible than having a car towed, which can take one or two hours.
Under state law, if a car stereo can be heard from 75 feet away, the driver can be fined $75. Carpentersville’s nuisance ordinance imposes a $50 fine on motorists whose car stereos can be heard 50 feet away.
Also last week, the Plan Commission recommended that the Village Board approve a revised preliminary plan for a 372-unit apartment complex east of the Bonnie Dundee Golf Course and north of Illinois Highway 68.
Brook-Ridge Development of East Dundee plans to build 19 three-story buildings with one- and two-bedroom units on 44.4 acres.