Jamestown City Council voting session (August 28, 2023)
Jamestown City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that the city hopes will help resolve housing code violations in a more timely manner.
The ordinance establishes a new chapter in the City Code to allow direct “Quality of Life Ticketing” by Housing Code Enforcement officers. Officers will be able to ticket residents for junk and debris; high grass, accumulation of snow, and other maintenance issues.
Housing Committee Chair Marie Carrubba said 90% of the calls she receives are about housing code issues, “It’s neighbors not taking care of their properties, it’s barking dogs, unlicensed vehicles, and it goes on and on. These are the issues that most affect the people and I’m sure my fellow council members are dealing with the exact same issues and same calls.”
Carrubba said she’s hopeful that the fines that come with the ticketing will encourage people to take care of their properties, “Having to go through the (Housing) court is very lengthy and, in many cases, it kicks it down the road for a very long time which is very frustrating for the people who live in those neighborhoods. And it only takes one property to infuriate the rest of the neighborhood.”
Fines for high grass will be $50 with other violations resulting in a $100 fine. For residents who are fined and do not rectify the issue within 15 days, the fine would be doubled.
Corporation Counsel Elliot Raimondo said residents who are ticketed may contest those tickets, “They still have the due process rights to come before Jamestown City Court and contest that ticket. And, at that time either myself as the City Corporation Counsel, or the Judge could dismiss the ticket, they could ACD (adjournment in contemplation of dismissal) the ticket, or they could assign a fine to the ticket. So at the end of the day, that judgement call, it’s going to go through three levels of individuals – the Code Enforcement Officers, myself, and then City Court Judge.”
Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said in cases where residents do not rectify a housing code issue within a designated time, the city will be able to get a judgement from Housing Court to then go onto the property to take care of the violation, with the property owner being billed for that work. She said in cases where the property owner refuses to pay, a lien could be placed on the property owner’s taxes or sent to collections.
Leave a Reply