Trying to Get What the 'Enforcement'
Means in 'Code Enforcement'
By ANNE HOLLIDAY
WESB/WBRR News Director
Bradford Mayor Tom Riel thinks, although the city’s landlord ordinance is only 18 months old, it could still use more teeth, and he also thinks the code enforcement department needs to give more attention to individual property owners.
Bradford businessman John Kohler started the discussion during Tuesday’s City Council meeting by saying, “I’m just trying to get what the 'enforcement' means in 'code enforcement.'”
Kohler wanted to know how much money had been collected in fines from landlords. Councilman Ross Neidich said he couldn’t provide those numbers, but will be meeting with code enforcement Wednesday and will have the numbers then.
Kohler also said it’s not just bad landlords who are contributing to blight in the city.
“There are a lot of blighted individual properties,” he said.
“In our community, we have a lot of aging houses to begin with,” Neidich said. “We have people that sometimes don’t seem to care about what their properties look like or how they let them deteriorate. We go after them the best way we can, and not always successfully.”
He added that they don’t always get the conclusion they want – cleaning up or taking better care of the property. Furthermore, he said, there’s “only so much money in the coffers for demolitions.” Neidich said they are years behind in demolitions of properties that were targeted years ago.
“We have a good number of good landlords who keep up their properties, and it does seem when we talk about code enforcement in general, that people that are doing their job get lumped in (with those who aren’t),” Neidich said.
As for individual property owners, Neidich said there are “always people who slip through the cracks,” adding that “it’s a never-ending battle.”
City Solicitor Mark Hollenbeck said the landlord ordinance is still being tested, but “it’s a lot tougher than it used to be.”
He noted that after a property owner goes before the Board of Health, the fine is $10,000.
“One thing that’s undeniable,” Hollenbeck said, is that they’ve had “a number of cases where the property owner has torn down the property at his own expense.”
He said that probably wouldn’t have been the case with the old ordinance.
Kohler asked why they’re not collecting the fines they should be collecting.
“The ordinance has a lot of teeth,” Hollenbeck said, “but the old adage that you can’t get blood out of stone is sometimes true. You have bankrupt corporations on the West Coast and things like that.”
Neidich added, “We’ve had a number of situations where we think we have the upper hand and then it gets into the court system and it drags on and on and on and on and on …”
“I was going to bite my tongue, but I’m not very good at that,” said Mayor Tom Riel.
The ordinance “should have a lot more teeth, “he said. “The current landlord ordinance isn’t good enough."
He said if a landlord has a pending fine or violation at one property he or she owns, that landlord should not be able to operate any other properties in the city.
Turning to individual property owners, Riel said, “We need to focus on the properties when the first porch pillar falls off, not the second or the third. We’re years behind on that, too."
Hollenbeck noted that the criminal section of the landlord ordinance has not been tested yet, but will be.
“If that is upheld and implemented – that means a lot more to a lot of people than a fine that they don't have money to pay,” he said. “That was purposely put in there as an option.”
WESB/WBRR News Director
Bradford Mayor Tom Riel thinks, although the city’s landlord ordinance is only 18 months old, it could still use more teeth, and he also thinks the code enforcement department needs to give more attention to individual property owners.
Bradford businessman John Kohler started the discussion during Tuesday’s City Council meeting by saying, “I’m just trying to get what the 'enforcement' means in 'code enforcement.'”
Kohler wanted to know how much money had been collected in fines from landlords. Councilman Ross Neidich said he couldn’t provide those numbers, but will be meeting with code enforcement Wednesday and will have the numbers then.
Kohler also said it’s not just bad landlords who are contributing to blight in the city.
“There are a lot of blighted individual properties,” he said.
“In our community, we have a lot of aging houses to begin with,” Neidich said. “We have people that sometimes don’t seem to care about what their properties look like or how they let them deteriorate. We go after them the best way we can, and not always successfully.”
He added that they don’t always get the conclusion they want – cleaning up or taking better care of the property. Furthermore, he said, there’s “only so much money in the coffers for demolitions.” Neidich said they are years behind in demolitions of properties that were targeted years ago.
“We have a good number of good landlords who keep up their properties, and it does seem when we talk about code enforcement in general, that people that are doing their job get lumped in (with those who aren’t),” Neidich said.
As for individual property owners, Neidich said there are “always people who slip through the cracks,” adding that “it’s a never-ending battle.”
City Solicitor Mark Hollenbeck said the landlord ordinance is still being tested, but “it’s a lot tougher than it used to be.”
He noted that after a property owner goes before the Board of Health, the fine is $10,000.
“One thing that’s undeniable,” Hollenbeck said, is that they’ve had “a number of cases where the property owner has torn down the property at his own expense.”
He said that probably wouldn’t have been the case with the old ordinance.
Kohler asked why they’re not collecting the fines they should be collecting.
“The ordinance has a lot of teeth,” Hollenbeck said, “but the old adage that you can’t get blood out of stone is sometimes true. You have bankrupt corporations on the West Coast and things like that.”
Neidich added, “We’ve had a number of situations where we think we have the upper hand and then it gets into the court system and it drags on and on and on and on and on …”
“I was going to bite my tongue, but I’m not very good at that,” said Mayor Tom Riel.
The ordinance “should have a lot more teeth, “he said. “The current landlord ordinance isn’t good enough."
He said if a landlord has a pending fine or violation at one property he or she owns, that landlord should not be able to operate any other properties in the city.
Turning to individual property owners, Riel said, “We need to focus on the properties when the first porch pillar falls off, not the second or the third. We’re years behind on that, too."
Hollenbeck noted that the criminal section of the landlord ordinance has not been tested yet, but will be.
“If that is upheld and implemented – that means a lot more to a lot of people than a fine that they don't have money to pay,” he said. “That was purposely put in there as an option.”
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Comments
I appreciate the city's effort to look better / be safer but with rampant joblessness, fixed incomes, etc, a lot of individual homeowners fall under “only so much money in their coffers for repairs and upkeep." There’s no excuse for dirty disgusting lawns or the hoards of the voluntarily unemployed dregs that clutter some porches day and night but for some it comes down to a fresh coat of paint for the house or keeping the electric on!