Aletha New Property Maintenance Ordinance-edited2

New Property Maintenance Ordinance – editing for consistency, clarification, specificity, duplication, blind references, omissions, and composite suggestions to alleviate concerns expressed by members of the community while retaining the full intent of controlling blight on properties in the City. Unbolded italics represent suggested change or new language [brackets contain narrative suggestions, explanations] [Overall: where ever is found “City Manager” replace with “City” – this, of course, is administered by the City Manager and retains his authority, but it will read better with the public as vesting a legal entity rather than an individual with powers] Definitions CITY The city of Baker City, Oregon and all the powers invested by its Charter and Ordinances. (p.2) VEHICLE Truck [remove ‘motor homes’ from definition of Truck, unless motor home is part of the definition under state law, since this category is already defined under Recreational vehicle. 1 Motor Home – a duplication] PUBLIC NUISANCES 97.03 (B) Debris on private property [duplication: remove this subsection; ‘debris’ is better covered in 97.l0 (B)] (E) Food or waste. [expand to read in full] All decayed food or other organic waste [replaced ordinance 2426 said ‘all decayed food or unwholesome food which is offered for human consumption] located or stored outdoors or in a location that generates an offensive odor to the general public except compost piles as cited in 97.10(B). [this reference is made because when people first read this they said ‘but what about compost piles?’ Compost piles are excepted in 97.10(B}]so this just makes useful reference to that fact.] (F) Green hides. [expand to read in full] The keeping or storing of any uncured, salted or green hide of any animal in any house, store, building or other place where the same shall cause or create any offensive odor, such that said odor would disturb persons traveling on public rights of way or occupying adjacent premises. [this addition would then not apply to persons on larger acreages where no public nuisance would be caused. It is not a health or safety issue.]

(G) Burning rubbish. [if covered in Fire Code, that should be cited in the same manner state statutes are cited in reference to Fireworks 97.08, and other language deleted.] [Note: Ordinance 2498 should be reviewed and updated – relief for persons with health issues should be included in revising guidelines for burning within city limits.] 97.04 STORAGE OF ICE BOXES AND SIMILAR CONTAINERS. [replace in its entirety with the following edited language of 2426:] No person shall place, leave or discard any abandoned, unused [replaces ‘unattended’] or discarded ice box, refrigerator or similar airtight container [omit: which has an airtight snap lock] in any place accessible to children without first removing [omit: such airtight snap lock or] the door or doors from the ice box, refrigerator or similar container. [add from proposed ordinance 3292 Section 97.04] Ice boxes, refrigerators, or similar airtight containers which are located outside a secure building, operable, and currently in use shall be locked at all times when not attended by an adult in order to prevent it from causing injury or death. 97.06 SURFACE WATERS; DRAINAGE [at end a Cross-reference is made to Section 51.125 and 51.126 of City of Baker City Code of Ordinances. Presume this is a section of new code because of numbering system. I expect these sections to be as acceptable as all of 97.06, but we should look at it before adopting this reference as part of 97.06]. NEW NUMBER BETWEEN 97.06 and 97.07. WEEDS. [was Section 6. following Section 5 on Surface Waters, Drainage in ordinance 2426. Currently section on weeds is found after all sections on Violations and Abatement. Suggest bringing back into body of “Nuisances…”with language exactly as given in 97.30, which is identical to language of Ordinance 3107, which it is replacing. 97.30. Delete: Sections 97.31 FAILURE OR NEGLECT TO COMPLY, 97.32 NOTICE; COST INCURRED BY CITY; 97.33 BILLING, and 97.34. COSTS OF CITY as redundant; 97.15 through 97.21 covers Notices and Abatement Procedures for all other violations (except Unsafe Buildings, which needs to be separate due to state codes and abatement authority). It appears that weed violations are no different from the other public nuisance violations. If there is a different abatement, can it be incorporated here.] [Citation is given for Ord, 3107, passed 9-24-1996, which is in list of ordinances online, but for citation ‘as amended by Ord. 3229,passed 5-11-2004’, said 3229 cannot be found online. 3229 needs to be found and reviewed to make sure language of WEEDS is as complete as desired.] [end section with] A violation of this section is a Class C violation, see 97.90. 97.07 UNNECESSARY NOISE.

(A) [at end of sentence add:] except as exempted for construction activities in 97.07(B)(6). [this pre- empts public concern expressed immediately upon reading this section that noise made working on home projects would be restricted. Better to lead them to exemption than to have them worry.] (B)(5) [this combines enumerations of violations in Ord. 2426(8)(e) and (f). Edit in first part of sentence:] Operating a blower, power fan, stationary internal combustion engine… [addition effectively exempts such things as idling your car for more than five minutes to warm it in the winter, or running a riding lawn mower, although this problem may be covered by the language “unless the sound from each machine is sufficiently muffled so as not to disturb the sleep, peace, quiet, comfort or repose of persons more than 30 feet away.” Need to Discuss the car and lawn mower examples to make sure code is not too restrictive or permissive]. (B)(10) [at the end of the section add:] provided that community service activities can call by voice in the course of fundraising activities such as car washes for student activities. [may need cross reference to sign ordinance.] [Nuisances from other unacceptable noises attendant on business activities can be well handled by 97.14 NUISANCES NOT SPECIFICALLY ENUMERATED by being brought to Council as “injurious or detrimental to the public health [as noise pollution, e.g.], safety or welfare of the city” Many businesses have music, kids call out car washes and so on. These are not in and of themselves detrimental to the health, safety or welfare of our City.] (D) [this does not address loudspeakers or volume at permitted events. See 97.07(B)(9) as a potential conflict, i.e. should volume be regulated by measures of decibels at a given distance and within certain hours?] 97.10 ACCUMULATION, STORAGE AND PLACEMENT OF ITEMS. NOTE: (A) does not relate to accumulation, storage and placement of items. It is instead a property maintenance requirement that does not have a basis in public, health, safety or regulation of business within residential zones, which all other items in section 97.10 may be said to have. For that reason, if property maintenance is a specific goal and concern, it should be addressed in a separate section. Do we want to address property maintenance to include curled shingles, paint, yards, appearance of fences, etc. i.e. (A) [If kept and not covered by the building code, could edit to read:] Building and/or structure exteriors, walls and fences which are maintained in such condition as to become so defective, [ remove ‘unsightly’ as too vague or subjective], or in such a state of deterioration or disrepair that the same [omit ‘causes depreciation of the values of surrounding property or’] is materially detrimental to nearby properties.[omit: ‘or may contribute to neighborhood determination (sic) and decline or retard neighborhood reinvestment.’]

(B) [in list of items that may not be accumulated, note ‘debris’ which warrants deleting the duplication of 97.03(B) and which provides a better context of like items for defining ‘debris’.] [the complete end of the sentence to be edited thus:] debris, salvage materials or parts thereof which constitute a fire or safety hazard [omit ‘and’] or are stored or accumulated in such a manner as to be visible from a public street, sidewalk, alley or adjoining property. [‘and’ is omitted because fire and safety is reason enough; with the ‘or’ operative, people can store such items if they are not visible, unsanitary or a safety issue.] (D) MAY DELETE IF ALREADY ADDRESSED IN SIGN CODE. Need to review. [If not: exempt historic or art signs, such as the Royal Café, Antlers Hotel, Joe’s Outfitters, that are part of our history and tell our story. They are an asset to our City.] [entire section to read:] Improper maintenance of signs and/or sign supports causing them to be unsafe and/or unsightly. [Delete last sentence about removing signs and sign supports immediately, since it does not relate to health, safety or welfare of the City and would have the unintended consequence of requiring a person who bought a property with a very fine and possibly expensive sign for a former business to tear it down, even if that person intended to use it for a new business at some time in the future, or provide process for getting a variance for special purpose or protection of an existing sign.] (E)or new (F) [add language at end to read in full:] The following items of personal property may be stored outside of a building or structure where they are visible. [This language not only maintains the intent of keeping City neat and clarifies what may be visible,, but would allow a resident to have on his/her property such things as longer lengths of firewood delivered to be cut later as long as they are not visible, or a safety or health issue.] (1) [edited to read:] Firewood that is safely stacked and useable. Usable firewood has more wood than rot and is cut and split to dimensions that will fit in a lawful fireplace or wood stove on the premises. [usable firewood definition as presented does not solve the issue of hazard due to poorly stacked firewood falling and the length of a piece of wood doesn’t make a 50-pound log round stacked at head height any safer than a small log.] [The fire and safety aspects of non-conforming wood and other types of storage such as construction materials are covered adequately in (B) ’cut brush or wood’ ‘salvage materials’, ’used lumber or salvaged wood’, ‘building materials’ etc. ]. 97.11 DISCARDED VEHICLES (A) [Edit to read in full:] No person shall store or permit to store, accumulate, dismantle, park or place a discarded vehicle on public or private property for more than 72 hours unless it is completely enclosed within a legally permitted building, behind a solid fence that conforms to the building code if the vehicle height is less than the fence height, or is covered with a tarp that is properly secured and in serviceable condition, and said vehicle does not harbor rodents, insects or other vermin.

[this last comes from Ord. 2686(2 ) and covers the health and safety issues of vehicle storage.] [The fence eliminates visibility issues while safety and health issues are still in effect; the tarp coverage is common to the community and requiring it be secured and in serviceable condition addresses the concern about visible blight in the same manner as does the suggested ‘vehicle cover which was manufactured for such use’ which is allowed in (C)(3) but which can be a prohibitively expensive solution for most people.] (B)(3) [delete: ‘license the vehicle’] (C)(3) [edited to read in full:] When overhaul work is not being done on the vehicle, it must be covered with a tarp that is properly secured and in serviceable condition, or it must be placed in a legally permitted building which is completely enclosed or behind a solid fence that conforms to the building code if the vehicle height is less than the fence height. [The specialty vehicle cover should not be required as it has no bearing on health and safety issues and can be prohibitively expensive. The fence option adequately addresses visible blight.] (C)(4) [Vehicle parts should follow the same requirements as the vehicle in (C)(3): covered with a tarp that is properly secured and in serviceable condition, or placed in a legally permitted building which is completely enclosed or behind a solid fence that conforms to the building code if the height of parts materials is less than the fence height.] 97.12 GRAFFITI [last sentence add ‘cover’ as follows:] Failure to cover or remove… [this simply clarifies the meaning of the intent to render not visible but doesn’t require a removal process that could be expensive or impossible] 97.13 ATTRACTIVE NUISANCES [need cross reference that buildings are addressed under 97.42(K) and 97.42(L)] (B) [should we clarify the meaning of ‘piling’?] 97.16 NOTICE OF VIOLATION (A) [edited to read:] A written notice of the alleged infraction may be given to the respondent in person by the City. [‘City Manager’ replaced by’ City’ throughout the document as recommened in foreword.] (B) [edited to read:] Notice of the alleged infraction may be given by a telephone call to the respondent. If notice is given in this manner, the respondent must [not ‘may’] be given [omit at ….discretion] a notice of infraction by first class mail sent to his last known address as soon as possible after the initial notice by telephone. [Important to assure giving of proper notice and to avoid conflict of testimony whether call was made or not.] (D) [re posting notice on premises, second sentence edited to read:] If notice is given in this manner, the City must [not ‘may’] also provide the respondent with a notice of

infraction by mail sent to the respondent’s last known address… [This assures giving of proper notice in case posted notice is removed by vandalism or the elements before respondent sees it, or if respondent is not resident on property.] 97.17 NOTICE OF VIOLATION CONTENTS [It is noted that green highlighted section (B) is the right to appeal. While (B) describes access to the City to discuss the matter, this is a right a citizen always has, but is not a formal appeal process. Suggest either deleting contents of (B) as implicit in citizen’s rights and replacing with language for appeal process, or adding a section (C) which contains the language for the appeal process using Ord. 2686(7) language as basis. Current (B) is not a ‘right of appeal’ if it is ‘at the discretion of the City Manager’] (B) [replacement, or new (C)][language edited from Ord 2686(7) as follows:] An interested person may appeal the decision of the Municipal Court by filing such appeal with the Circuit Court within five days after the decision of the Municipal Court, with written notice of said action to the City Recorder within the same five days. [this removes the City Council from the appeals process. In the old ordinances the City Council acted as a jury of one’s peers when a Municipal Judge was not necessarily a lawyer. An appeal from a duly constituted court is essentially an appeal of the legal aspects of a case and not of the content of the violation, therefore, appeal to a legal body is more appropriate. This eliminates the possibility of citizens using the Council to argue the validity of the ordinance itself.] [This section must be in 97.17 NOTICE to precede all the following sections which deal with remedies, City action and Abatements, so that the respondent is informed of his right to appeal before any action relating to his property is taken by the City.] 97.18 TIME TO REMEDY VIOLATIONS/VOLUNTARY COMLPIANCE AGREEMENT [only change besides changing ‘City Manager’ to ‘City’ as throughout the document is in the second sentence, to read as follows:] The time allowed shall not be less than 14 days. [not 24 hours, which is unnecessarily short for working people who may have a large mess and is the same 14 days allowed in 97.21(A)(3)(b) ‘to abate the nuisance’. Further, 97.19 obviates the necessity for the short time frame since it authorizes ‘Immediate Remedial Action’ for ‘health, safety or welfare’ or profit to respondent from delay…]. [Also have omitted ‘nor more than thirty days’ as meaningless, since 14 days is the required time unless the City grants additional time at its discretion, which of course it often does in working with people to achieve the desired goal.] [add language:] The City may allow additional time for voluntary compliance at its discretion. [This replaces the ‘hardship’ sentence.] 97.20 [states:”…City Manager shall serve the respondent with a citation” –there is no mention of multiple day by day sequential citations as stated in 97.15. It refers the reader to 97.l5; this creates as to meaning. Do we in fact contemplate multiple fines by day of non-compliance prior to trial or after a hearing. Issue of time between initial citation and issue of maximum cost of refusal to comply on a single civil offense.] 97.21 ABATEMENT PROCEDURE

[add after first sentence the following:] The order will not be executed until time for the right to appeal has elapsed and no appeal has been filed. If appeal is filed, order for execution will not occur until after the appeal is heard and appeal denied. [(A) appears to disagree with order of action with charts in 97.15 (D) Abatement by the City. [number (1) is not necessary and should be deleted. It is redundant. The City does not need to request an order from the Count allowing the City to abate the property since the authority is already given in 97.20 with the issuance of the citation and the order of the Municipal Court, and in the first sentence of 97.21 prologue and under the new right to appeal language. See above.] [number (2): question for City Attorney: does the use of entry by court order then enable a new process of discovery which then allows subsequent or additional citations for violations which would otherwise not be discoverable with normal constraints of search and privacy requirements.] [add reference to last sentence to read:] The 24-hours advance notice requirement in this subsection [referring to (2) for executing the judgment] shall not apply in the case of an emergency as defined in 97.19. (E) Fees associated with abatement. (1) [edit for clarification of what resolution?] …with an additional amount as set by resolution on a case by case basis, to cover the expense of ….. [this makes it clear that we are not talking about an existing resolution, but one that will be passed for the specific violation abatement when it is completed and specific to the respondent] BRUSH, GRASS AND WEEDS. [This has no section number (97.30 implied) and appears to have been lifted intact from weed Ord. 3107, to include definition, abatements, fines, etc., all of which are covered in the consolidated new code. Have placed 97.30 description in earlier section with new number between 97.06 and 97.07, which see, and recommend deletion of 97.31, 97.32, 97.33 and 97.34 as redundant.] UNSAFE BUILDINGS. Recommend that this entire section be reviewed at a separate work session from the rest of the Property Maintenance Code since it deals with state statutes, different abatements and fines, and technical aspects which can be discussed with Gary Bood, where clarification is desired. Gary has already responded with clarifying language where the lay Council members had questions. This process will help Gary make it as understandable as possible for the public.