Attached is an ordinance that contains three Code amendments.

The  first proposed amendment is to Section 16-401b. That section currently prohibits animals from entering places where food or beverages are stored, prepared, served or sold to the general public or any other public building or hall with an exemption only for seeing eye dogs.  The proposed amendment brings the Section into compliance with the ADA by exempting service animals as defined by the ADA.

The second proposed amendment is to Section 18-307. This Section currently makes it illegal to leave a horse unattended and not secure. The Police Department is not concerned about horses but has asked for a Code amendment to permit tickets for negligent and distracted driving. Each day in the United States, approximately nine people lose their lives and more than 1,000 are injured in traffic crashes involving a distracted driver. Distracted driving remains one of the most common, and often times under-reported, contributing factors in traffic crashes every day. While cell phone usage is a predominant form of distracted driving, any action that takes away your attention from driving is especially dangerous. Eating, reading, manipulating in-vehicle navigation and infotainment systems or even allowing an unrestrained pet to roam around the driver compartment of a vehicle decreases operator focus and increases the likelihood of a traffic crash. This new section would permit Police Officers to issue tickets under a local Code section.

The third proposed amendment is to Section 18-405. This Section addresses administrative hearings requested as the result of vehicle seizure for DUIs. Those hearings had been held separately from the Village’s administrative adjudication hearing process. The Hearing Officer who had been overseeing those hearings is becoming a judge, so it makes sense to  now include those hearings as part of the regular administrative adjudication process. The proposed changes eliminate the need for a hearing within 14 days of a request, so that these hearings can now be included as part of the Village’s monthly administrative adjudication hearing process.

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that An Ordinance Amending Chapters 16 and 18 of the Arlington Heights Municipal Code, be approved.