Under New Village Program, Businesses Will Be Inspected Every Five Years

Shorewood businesses, some of which haven’t been inspected in decades, will now have to undergo inspections every five years, after the Village Board gave the go ahead Monday on a new Commercial Occupancy Renewal Program.

In the past, businesses have had a one-time inspection upon opening to gain a certificate of occupancy. After that, an inspector would only see the building if a business did work that required a special permit.

Planning and Zoning Administrator Ericka Lang said there are many businesses who had code violations uncovered during the first inspection, that were given temporary occupancy permits with the expectation they would fix the violations.

In these cases, businesses have been able to continue operating with a temporary permit, sometimes ignoring requests for follow-up inspections. As of April, 52 percent of businesses that opened between 2008 and 2010 had only a temporary permit, according to Lang.

Under the new program, temporary permits will expire after 30 days.

Lang estimated that about 20 businesses per year will be due for inspection and renewal of their certificates of occupancy.

The program will not cost the village any extra money, Lang said, because it will be done by inspectors already employed by the village, whose workload will be balanced in other areas. For example, instead of sending five inspectors on first-time inspections, the village will now only send one or two.

The renewal process will be less intensive than the original inspection, with a shorter check list and only one inspector.

“The renewal is just to make sure people are maintaining a safe space,” Lang said. “We’ll just be looking for basic things — that there’s not a big hole in your floor, you’re not running extension chords from one room to the next — and that everything is up to code.”

Also under the program, the occupancy fee will increase from $100 to $125. Renewal fees will be $25 for businesses less than 400 square feet, $50 for businesses 400-1000 square feet, and $75 for businesses greater than 1000 square feet.