DuPage County officials described the county’s Neighborhood Revitalization Program and credited a 2016 Illinois Housing Development Authority Strong Communities grant and county resources for enabling legal action and cleanup of blighted properties in unincorporated areas.

Speaker 1 (role/title not specified) said the program targets severely neglected properties and that the county “leverages internal resources and funding from the Illinois Housing Development Authority's Strong Communities grant to take delinquent property owners to court.” The county can then either compel owners to fix code violations, clean up properties itself or place liens when owners fail to act.

Speaker 2 (role/title not specified) said the 2016 grant ‘‘allowed us to put some money where our mouth was…to have our attorneys go to court if necessary, deal with these blighted properties’’ and described a ‘‘clean and lien’’ approach that can include the county taking ownership or using county crews to remediate unsafe structures.

The county noted the first demolition under the program occurred in February 2018. Speaker 1 said that since then ‘‘more than 150 properties have been cleaned up, either by their owners or by the county, and are now ready for development.’’ In March 2025, the county used public works staff and equipment to clear one property condemned under the program, the speakers said.

Officials described interagency coordination on cases: community and social services, the health department, building and zoning, and the sheriff’s department may be involved, depending on case needs. Speaker 3 (role/title not specified) said that for cases with ‘‘special needs or special circumstances’’ the county brings in senior services, the health department and other agencies to find solutions and praised staff for ‘‘rowing together.’’

Speakers also relayed community response: Speaker 2 said neighbors have on occasion come out to hug county crews and thank them after a cleanup, particularly in cases involving abandonment, animals, or hoarding.

For more information, the county directed residents to the Building and Zoning page at dupagecounty.gov or advised callers to contact the DuPage County Building and Zoning department at (630) 407-6700. The presentation did not identify individual speakers by name or formal title, and it did not propose new ordinances or report any formal vote.