Agenda - Council - 07/25/1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

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'1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I CASE CODE ENFORCEMENT UPDATE B~: Kendra Lindahl, Community Development Intern Background: Council has reques ~t~l that Staff begin actively enforcing our residential ordinances. Therefore, the City of Ramsey Sta~ff has been doing code enforcement sweeps throughout the City since April 1995. Generally, We have had an excellent compliance rate. Most violators correct the problem within the three w~k time frame and their cases are dismissed. On June 27, 199~., Staff brought some concerns to the Council about how the CUPs for commercial vehicles would be handled. Staff felt that it was improper to continue to take CUP application fees if i~here was no chance for Council approval of any application. A request was made for Council ro look at either granting a grace period for everyone to get into compliance, continuing with th~ CUP process, or rewriting the code. Council directed Staff to stop sending letters to residents in violation of this ordinance until a decision was made on the ordinance. The entire CUP application fee was refunded to residents who applied for a CUP to store commercial vehicles on residential property, and all of the commercial vehicle cases were put on hold. I have continued to log tl~e names and addresses of residents in violation of the commercial vehicle ordinance, but hav~not sent any new letters. Observations: Staff has been doin', g code enforcement since April 1995. Council receives an updated spreadsheet on a weekly basis tO show how the cases are progressing. * 156 properties have been found in violation of City Ordinances *9 cases ar~. being prosecuted by the City Attorney *89 cases h~tve been dismissed due to the property coming into compliance with the code *29 are stilli~n process *6 of the ca[es were inspected on complaints and found to have no violation *20 violatio~s of the commercial vehicle ordinance have been put on hold until the Council reaches a de~ision about this ordinance. [ *3 of the cases were cited for commercial vehicle violations, but the letter was never sent because the iCouncil ordered that we stop citing violators. Once the word got out that the Council was no longer enforcing this ordinance, at least two residents, who had, removed their commercial vehicles from their property and had their cases dismissed, moved t~eir commercial vehicles back onto their property. Staff has continuedi to do code enforcement sweeps and make note of the properties in violation of the commercial vehicle ordinance, but we have not been sending notices out to commercial vehicle ordinance violators~ Since the Ramsey Resident article came out to inform residents that we are now actively enforcing our ordinances, I h~tve received a number of calls from residents. Some of the callers request more information so they~ can get into compliance, but most of the calls are from residents who are glad to see that we are lfinally enforcing our ordinances. Apparently people do not want to live in neighborhoods wh~re junk cars or dump trucks are parked in the front yard, grass and weeds are allowed to grow un[controlled, or the yards are full of debris.