Chicago clarifies plexiglass as a viable securing material

Chicago, IL: Plexiglass has been clarified by the City Council as an acceptable means to secure vacant buildings in the city.

 

The decision comes after concerns involving the use of plywood to secure vacant properties: that plywood boarding openly informs the public the building is abandoned, and therefore increases its likelihood as a potential target for illegal activity; or plywood boarding creates possible dangers for officers of the law going into a vacant property to clear out reported or suspected illegal activities.

 

Though plexiglass, or polycarbonate, boarding is more expensive than plywood, the added potential effects of reducing law enforcement endangerment and diminishing the likelihood of trespassing to undertake criminal activities can balance out or even overtake the increased costs for the clear boarding.

 

Plexiglass does not eliminate the ability for people to break into the vacant homes, it does increase the difficulty to do so, compared to the more readily breachable plywood boarding commonly employed.

 

 

 

Ascent combines focused research and centralized operations oversight to create innovative outsourced solutions for code enforcement violations, vacant property registration ordinances, property preservation, and other vendor management needs from across the United States.