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Code Violation Trends At the end of the first half of 2008, there were a total of 167 registered complaints. In the first two weeks of the third quarter 2008, City Staff received over 140 new complaints, (127 were received by one resident reporting improperly stored garbage containers). Staff is in the process of preparing the full third quarter code enforcement report. By comparison, there were 191 code enforcement cases involving 255 issues in 2007. In 2006, there were 325 issues of which some properties had more than one issue. The majority of the code enforcement cases are for parking issues (too many vehicles and/or parking on lawns), garbage container location, drainage/erosion control, animal control, and unmaintained lawns. The most recent detailed breakdown is for the second quarter of 2008, which produced III separate complaints. While the complaints varied, the most common violations included: 1. Sixteen violations of objectionable weeds or plant height in excess of eight inches; 2.. Sixteen violations related to the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC); 3. Eleven violations of vehicles parked in prohibited areas or more than four on the property; 4. Eight complaints regarding drainage or erosion concerns. Other complaints in the second quarter of 2008 included the discharge of a firearm, illegal sign change, illegal fishing, and garbage container storage issues. The majority of the IPMC complaints involved educating the property owner on the standards to which properties need to be maintained, which is typically to the condition the property was originally built. An estimated 60 percent of complaints are resolved upon first contact with the property. Most of the remaining 40 percent are resolved with a second notice or third notice. For those properties that require a second or third notice, it is not uncommon for some properties to fall back out of compliance, particularly for garbage container location and parking violation. However some properties refuse to comply or stay in compliance, which can result in a civil or criminal citation. Since the City's goal is to obtain compliance, staff works diligently with properties before pursuing the civil or criminal citation process, which can take six to twelve months and legal fees to obtain compliance. Existing Code Enforcement Resources The City currently has a quarter time code enforcement officer. The remaining three quarters of that position is dedicated to residential building reviews and inspections. Due to increasing code enforcement demands, the amount of time used for code enforcement in this position has been increasing, which decreases the amount of time available for City of Arden Hills City Council Work Session for October 20, 2008 I IAhdocsJ lahIAHdalaIPlanning\Communi(v Development\CommuniZF Livability\lv/emos \ 1 02008 - CC Memo - Community Livability-doc Page 3 of]2