The City Plan Commission Wednesday night approved the idea behind adding a proposed new property maintenance ordinance to the city’s existing anti-blight ordinance.
But commissioners deemed the proposal’s language still too vague for purposes of clarity and enforcement.
The commissioners approved the measure “as a concept,” but sent back to the aldermen and staff with recommendation for refinement and clarification.
The ordinance-in-progress is being written and championed by Aldermen Roland Lemar and Joey Rodriguez.
Spawned by the spike in foreclosed properties and out-of town bank ownership, the aldermen’s proposed law seeks to define conditions and penalties for “nuisance conditions” that may not yet rise to the level of blight but nevertheless require attending to.
The draft cites factors determining whether a building is properly maintained: “missing or boarded windows or doors; collapsing or missing walls, roof or floor; exterior walls which contain holes, breaks, loose or rotting materials or the presence of graffiti.”
City Plan commissioners and staff had misgivings about such definitions. “I’ve got peeling paint on my house,” said City Plan chief Karyn Gilvarg. “At what level does it kick in?”
Commission Chairman Ed Mattison suggested that as a former alderman, “You get people calling up [with a complaint], and it doesn’t look like blight to me.”
Gilvarg said that her department is short staffed and had not been able to go thoroughly through the material. She also had questions about definitions of terms. She added that top city building official Andy Rizzo concluded the draft gives too much discretion to enforcement officers to determine if a condition exists.
Even Roland Lemar agreed, in a message conveyed by City Plan staffer Joy Ford, that the legislation definitely needs more work.
By unanimous vote, it was approved “as a concept,” but sent back to the aldermen and staff with recommendation for refinement and clarification.
I had every intention of renovating my house exterior until the city announced an 80% tax increase.