Ordinance Would Reduce City Eyesores

Hoping to spiff up the less aesthetically appealing parts of town, the City Council on Monday will consider drafting a property maintenance ordinance.

Cities often use such laws to regulate properties with overgrown weeds, empty refrigerators, abandoned cars and other eyesores that can contribute to falling property values and increasing graffiti and crime, according to a staff report prepared by City Atty. John Torrance.

About a year ago, the council asked the city staff to look into an ordinance that would target dilapidated homes, vacant gas stations and the like. A similar request was echoed in the recently released Vision 2020 document.

“Now we need the council to tell us if they want an ordinance, and what they want in it,” Torrance said.

Among the violations that could be included in a property maintenance ordinance are dirt patches, litter, interior furniture, operable and inoperable vehicles, cracked sidewalks and walls, graffiti, insect and vermin infestations, boarded-up windows and commercial signs for vacant businesses.

Torrance is asking council members whether they want a civil or criminal ordinance and if such an ordinance would apply equally to residential, commercial and industrial properties.

He is also asking whether such an ordinance should be enforced only after citizen complaints or with code enforcers seeking out violations.