Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Existin!! Code Enforcement Process <br /> <br />While the City does not have a formally adopted compliance policy, staffhas followed a process <br />when working with complaints and violations. Upon receiving a complaint, the City performs an <br />inspection and, if the violation is verified, a letter is sent to the address of the violation. In cases <br />where the Ramsey County property database includes an alternative address for the property <br />owner, a letter is sent to the property address and to the owner at the alternative address. The <br />process may involve two additional notices with ten to 14 days between each notice if the <br />violation is not resolved. If the property owner does not respond and/or the violation does not <br />show any progress toward being resolved, a citation may be issued. This type of process is very <br />similar to other cities. <br /> <br />Proposed Code Compliance Policy <br /> <br />While there is nothing inherently wrong with the existing process, moving toward a more <br />formalized and city adopted process will be helpful to both staff and residents. The new policy is <br />not a substantial operational change; however, the policy is more streamlined, provides <br />additional process detail, and is compatible with the timelines in the recently updated nuisance <br />ordinance. <br /> <br />Based on the Council's April 20, 2009, discussion and additional staff discussion, the proposed <br />policy was modified as follows: <br />· Clarify what is required for contact information under the third bullet point; <br />· Section 3: Explicitly allow for the sheriff to verify violations in addition to staff; <br />· Section 3.b: Changed "will" to "may" so that staff is not required to inform a property <br />owner of a complaint in cases where the complaint was frivolous or not a violation. The <br />previous version implied that a property owner should be notified of all complaints. <br />However, staff recommends retaining the option for staff to inform a property owner and <br />tenant in case the violation is "fleeting," which means the violation may not have been <br />verified during the inspection but could easily reoccur. Parking violations are often <br />fleeting violations because the violation may not be occurring during an inspection but it <br />would still be good to inform the property and tenant of the regulation. <br />· Section 4: Removed the redundant inspection for violations that could not be verified; <br />· Sections 5 and 6: Changed "will" to "may" so the City is not required by policy to issue a <br />citation or abatement, which allows staff some flexibility when a citation/abatement may <br />not be the best course of action; <br />· Section 7: Removed the additional warning letter for re-occurring violations where the <br />owner/tenant were already informed of the same violation and ordinance in the past. <br /> <br />Adopting a policy does not lock the city into one process that must be applied to all situations no <br />matter the circumstances. Some flexibility will still be needed. However, a Council supported <br /> <br />City of Arden Hills <br />City Council MeetingforMay 11,2009 <br /> <br />\ \Ahdocsl \ah \AHdata\Planning\ Community Development \ Community Enhancement Program\Memos\051109 - CC Memo - Code Compliance <br />Policy. doc <br /> <br />Page 2 of 3 <br />