04/15/2008 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 4/15/2008 at some points. He feels the amendment goes a little too far-it is leaning towards big brother rather than being a concern about keeping the housing stock in good shape. Safety Director Thomas came forward and said there will never be an interior inspection of a single family home by a real property maintenance inspector. She can say that unequivocally. This is an exterior inspection only. The code cleazly states cars parked on the lawn, high grass or weeds, garbage and. lack of an address. We will not be going into anybody's home to check for those things. The code only gives the city authority to make interior inspections on rental property, and that's done by jointly by the Building Department and Fire Department--usually the lazge apartment buildings. We only go into real property in the large apartment buildings for fire inspections typically. Regarding the voluntary payment language, she deferrers to the Law Director. Regarding the appeal process, we train our inspectors to talk with people. The warning tag is meant to identify that there is a problem. It gives a phone number and the name of the inspector. We encourage homeowners to call the inspector to let them know what the issues are regarding when the problem can be taken care of. The inspectors have discretion, along with the Building Commissioner who can grant additional time. We encourage dialogue between the inspector and the homeowner when a problem has been identified. As was discussed, it is the 1% of the property owners who ignore all of our entreaties to make property corrections that this program is designed for. These laws have been on the books for years, and we've been doing property maintenance investigation for a very long time, and we've never had a problem. Law Director Dubelko commented that the wording is sufficient. Referring to it as a voluntary payment distinguishes it from a court orderer fine. That's the only reason to use the word voluntary. You aze ~t being ordered by the court to pay the fine. You aze being cited, and you are paying it rather than going into court and be ordered to pay it. Terry Smith, 26615 Fairfax Lane, reiterated his position regarding Ordinance 200$-44. The thing that distinguishes this country from other countries is individual rights. Democracy. The primary thing is individual and property rights. He has property, and now instead of the government protecting that right, it's now allowing him to live there and, if he doesn't cut his grass, then they're going to fine him. In the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, in addition to abolishing slavery, one of the terms is involuntazy labor. He is being forced to cut his grass. He doesn't think government should be involved in something like this. It's the responsibility of the community, of the neighbors. He does not think this should go forward. As a property owner, he should have the right to do what he wants with his property. Councilman Gareau said there is a home in Mr. Smith's neighborhood which recently went into foreclosure. If we do not have a property maintenance program and the bank purchases that property, there's a significant chance the property could just be left to crumble. When it gets to that paint, what recourse would Mr. Smith as a neighbor have if his neighborhood goes through a blighting influence of one, two, or three properties that are just left vacant? If these laws are in place, the city can go after the bank. While one might have free property rights, at the same time we have a covenant with our neighbors 10