The Midway City Council plowed through old and new verbiage Wednesday evening as it considered ordinances Mayor Grayson Vandegrift wants in order to crack down on owners of blighted property.
One ordinance would create a board to enforce the city's existing rules on nuisances and blight; the other, which contains those rules, would be updated to include the code enforcement board. Vandegrift said the existing ordinance is basically obsolete because a 2016 state law requires a local board to handle appeals of citations issued by a code enforcement officer.
The council spent much of its 75-minute special meeting cleaning up parts of the existing ordinance, which Vandegrift said "has been piece-mealed together for probably a century." But it also tentatively agreed on changes to the ordinance that would create and govern the code enforcement board, such as:
Council Member John Holloway asked, "How often can you give ‘em a citation?" Vandegrift replied, "I think you can give ‘em as many citations as you want. … We can make it too expensive for them to not to the work, or to sell the property." Holloway said there needs to be a limit on how often; he said can’t be five minutes, and it can't be 10 years. Vandegrift agreed.
The ordinance would also follow a state law in creating an "abandoned urban property" class of real estate, which could be subject to higher taxes. Vandegrift said that in extreme cases, the city could use its power of eminent domain, or condemnation, which would require council action.
Discussing the existing ordinance, the council and mayor agreed on removing several provisions that are outdated, or that have become part of the state building code applying to interior matters.
"The intention here is for things on outside of the house," Vandegrift said.
"Because those are nuisances to other people," Holloway said.
Holloway added later, "I have just been appalled at the conditions people are living in and the houses they’re living in," and asked Vandegrift how often the city gets complaints about such matters.
One ordinance would create a board to enforce the city's existing rules on nuisances and blight; the other, which contains those rules, would be updated to include the code enforcement board. Vandegrift said the existing ordinance is basically obsolete because a 2016 state law requires a local board to handle appeals of citations issued by a code enforcement officer.
The council spent much of its 75-minute special meeting cleaning up parts of the existing ordinance, which Vandegrift said "has been piece-mealed together for probably a century." But it also tentatively agreed on changes to the ordinance that would create and govern the code enforcement board, such as:
- A one-term limit for the three members of the board, which would also have up to two alternates to fill in when regular members are not available.
- Allowing the council, not just the mayor, to remove a board member, but requiring the votes of five of the six council members to do so.
- Allowing different lengths of time for property owners to respond to notices of violation, which if not corrected would result in a citation.
- Some sort of limit on how often citations could be issued to repeat violators.
Council Member John Holloway asked, "How often can you give ‘em a citation?" Vandegrift replied, "I think you can give ‘em as many citations as you want. … We can make it too expensive for them to not to the work, or to sell the property." Holloway said there needs to be a limit on how often; he said can’t be five minutes, and it can't be 10 years. Vandegrift agreed.
The ordinance would also follow a state law in creating an "abandoned urban property" class of real estate, which could be subject to higher taxes. Vandegrift said that in extreme cases, the city could use its power of eminent domain, or condemnation, which would require council action.
Discussing the existing ordinance, the council and mayor agreed on removing several provisions that are outdated, or that have become part of the state building code applying to interior matters.
"The intention here is for things on outside of the house," Vandegrift said.
"Because those are nuisances to other people," Holloway said.
Holloway added later, "I have just been appalled at the conditions people are living in and the houses they’re living in," and asked Vandegrift how often the city gets complaints about such matters.
The mayor said it depends on the time of year, but "There’s some kind of complaint about once every week." He said he increasingly hears complaints about abandoned buildings. The Census Bureau's American Community Survey estimated in 2017 that Midway had 89 abandoned housing units.
Vandegrift has been trying to get blighted-property ordinances passed since he became mayor in 2015. He said early in the meeting, "A compromise version of this could come out and be perfectly fine with me." He added, "I do feel like we need to move as rapidly as possible." He said he plans to call another special meeting next week to continue work on the ordinances.
Vandegrift has been trying to get blighted-property ordinances passed since he became mayor in 2015. He said early in the meeting, "A compromise version of this could come out and be perfectly fine with me." He added, "I do feel like we need to move as rapidly as possible." He said he plans to call another special meeting next week to continue work on the ordinances.
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