Code Attorney

I’ve just been made aware of a terrific code enforcement conference for municipal attorneys in New Orleans on Oct. 9 and 10.  It’s the Code Enforcement Program held in conjunction with the International Municipal Lawyers Association.  There’s a lot of great topics, abating a nuisance, hoarders, 4th Amendment issues and more.  You can find the registration form at http://www.imla.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=128&Itemid=319

Posted by Linda Pieczynski Category(ies): Code Enforcement Tag(s):

I recognize that hoarding cases can be extremely time consuming to deal with and difficult for a property maintenance inspector because the person the inspector is dealing with is not rational about the state of the inside of the residence but I don’t think that’s a reason to do nothing.  A woman died in her home in Skokie, IL and the only way to get her was to cut a hole in the roof in this story reported today.  http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=395161 I had a case last week where the defendant pleaded guilty (he doesn’t even live in the home anymore but stays in an extended stay hotel due to the condition of the house) and the judge ordered him to remove the rubbish within 30 days.  I had a picture of a dumpster on the property with just a small amount of items in it to show he hadn’t made much progress.  The defendant said he couldn’t possibly do it within 30 days because of his physical condition.  After quizzing him, the judge determined that he had the financial resources to hire someone to do it for him.  Then the defendant argued that that wasn’t possible because that person wouldn’t know what to keep and what to throw away.  The judge told him that he could do that by being the manager of the rubbish removal and he could give directions to the hired help.   The defendant still protested but we’ll see next month if progress has been made.

Posted by Linda Pieczynski Category(ies): Code Enforcement, property maintenance Tag(s):

It’s that time of year again when I get questions about notice to offenders who don’t cut their grass.  Some of the inspectors complain that owners of property rely on the notice the local jurisdiction sends them as a signal that it’s time to mow their lawn or property lot.  The most frequent question I get is whether one notice is sufficient or whether a notice needs to be sent every time the property needs to be mowed again.  It all depends on what your code says.  If the code requires a notice before you can write a ticket, then that’s what you have to do.  Owners take advantage of this because they cut the grass after they get the notice and before you can write a ticket.  Then they wait until the next notice, cut the grass and wait until the next one.  This really wastes the inspectors’ time.  My suggestion is to amend the code’s notice provision  (if you can do that depending on state and local law) so that one notice per season is sufficient.  There’s no good reason any inspector should play babysitter to a landowner.  The owner needs to supervise the property or pay the consequences.

Posted by Linda Pieczynski Category(ies): Code Enforcement, Ordinances Tag(s):

My husband and I had a wonderful time in Japan but I couldn’t ignore some interesting differences.  We stayed at a Japanese inn that was part of a Buddhist Temple up in the mountains one night.  It was a typical Japanese accomodation with tatami mats, futons to sleep on and a low table.  Our host showed us how to stay warm with the space heaters and a futon around the table.  I’m posting a picture to see how it looked.  Kerosene heaters are widespread as very few homes have central heating.  There is also a heater under the table so you can wrap yourself in the futon and stay warm.  This is quite common but one of the fire inspectors I showed the picture to was taken aback.

Japanese inn

We also visited many temples and shrines.  Our guides told us that many of them are replicas of what had been there before.  Apparently many of them burn down periodically and then are rebuilt. Some temples have been replaced numerous times over the centuries (they are wooden structures).  The biggest danger of fire comes from lightning. If you look closely on the left of the picture of the temple, you can see lightning rods.

The Japanese were very advanced in earthquake technology.  We saw temples built almost 800 years ago that had withstood earthquakes because of how the foundation was built.  I was told that when a temple burns down and is rebuilt, the foundation is built to withstand earthquakes even though modern fire prevention methods e.g. sprinklers are not part of the replacement temple.

Buddhist temple

Posted by Linda Pieczynski Category(ies): Code Enforcement, Fire Prevention Tag(s):

It seems that whenever I travel to conduct trainings, I find interesting items in the local press for this blog.  My trip to Troy, Michigan last week for SEMBOIA was no exception.  The Detroit Free Press had a very good article about using demolition wisely to target high crime areas.  http://www.freep.com/article/20100421/NEWS05/4210312/Vacant-Detroit-homes-where-crime-thrives-the-first-to-go It seems the local agencies worked to determine which vacant buildings were located in areas with the highest concentration of homicides, assaults, rapes, robberies and arsons.  Instead of tearing down vacant buildings here and there throughout the city, this approach recognizes that vacant buildings breed crime and that targeting specific areas is a better use of the funds available.  At a time when funds for demolition quickly run out, it’s an approach that is very smart.

Posted by Linda Pieczynski Category(ies): Code Enforcement, Fire Prevention, Foreclosure, Law Enforcement and Codes Tag(s):