Getting serious about code enforcement

A Special Meeting was held at City Hall with Mayor Mark Shuttleworth, Commissioners Long, Cherry and Tamburro, City Attorney Lonnie Groot, Police Chief Keith Chester, Officer Patrick Clarino (future Code Enforcement Officer) and City Administrator Don Findell on October 11th. The theme was code enforcement.

Mr. Groot indicated that code enforcement is a “touchy subject” in all cities but that the motivation is compliance and the goal is to have all citizens make necessary repairs or improvements to their properties.

He explained how the subject could be addressed by Lake Helen in the future by outlining several methods used by other cities:

(1) The Citation Process,

(2) Hearing Officer Process, Code Enforcement Board Process and/or

(3) Court Orders for serious offenses. Once it reaches the court system and the offender who has not and will not comply,
could face “contempt of court” charges which could result in fines and jail time.

Mr. Groot noted that many times the Code Enforcement Board, made up of private citizens of the community, is usually too compassionate for obvious reasons whereas, a Hearing Officer (usually a private attorney) applies the code and is impartial.

He also said that code enforcement could be “complaint (by private citizens) driven,” driven by the Code Enforcement Officer writing citations or both. It was decided to utilize both methods.

The City Commission decided they wished to incorporate all methods into the new ordinance so different options may be utilized based on the severity of the offenses.

Mr. Groot advised that the ordinance would need to be rewritten to reflect the desire of the local government on this matter and he would begin crafting a new ordinance for the City of Lake Helen.