“The changes are designed to broaden our tools,” said Joshua Harmon, code enforcement manager.
The definition of rubbish now includes non-permitted or expired temporary signs and upholstered furniture used outdoors but not designed for that, such as couches on porches.
“It’s just to better identify what we can remove,” he said.
The signs can rip, block drivers’ views or become projectiles, Harmon said, and upholstered furniture can attract rodents and insects.
“There’s definitely a health and safety risk,” Community Development Director Shannon Meadows said.
The city can now authorize contractors to remove the temporary signs and couches if the owners ignore letters notifying them of violations. The owners would then be billed for the removal cost.
The definition of a public nuisance also was revised to include bench billboards that have fallen into disrepair.
The city regulates the location and quantity of bench billboards and could remove ones in the wrong locations. But it previously couldn’t order repairs or remove ones in the right spots that weren’t in good condition.
“That’s perhaps one of the most useful changes,” Meadows said.
Two of the three civil fine levels have been modified to make them round numbers. The $35 fine will be $50 and the $96 fine will be $100.
A $500 recalcitrant offender fine has been created for someone who has committed the same violation three or more times in 12 months, such as a homeowner who has repeatedly been cited for not cutting their weeds.
Some violators, especially of the more minor offenses, would rather pay the fine than fix the problem, Harmon said.
“So it’s going to facilitate our ability to get some of these things taken care of,” he said.
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