City targets junky property

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

With city officials taking a more aggressive stance toward cleaning up junk, Volunteer Market on Beersheba Street might be targeted.

The city’s junk ordinance may be getting some more muscle after city leaders said they wanted to step up enforcement efforts.

Enacted in 1998, the law was intended to regulate the open storage of refuse, junk, abandoned vehicles, and rubbish on residential or commercial property. In short, the law considers it the duty of property owners or occupants to keep their premises clean.

Since then, enforcement has largely been implemented as a response to complaints called into the fire marshal’s office, McMinnville Fire Chief Kevin Lawrence told city leaders Monday. Lawrence was the city’s fire marshal at the time the ordinance was created and enforcement responsibilities were delegated to that office.

Today, complaints are still handled there. Members of the Building and Grounds Committee said they wanted to change the “complaint-driven” procedure and become more proactive in enforcement.

“It’s probably something that should have been done a long time ago,” committee chairman Michael Chrisawn said, noting the issue was revisited at a February planning conference where officials discussed economic development and efforts to improve the aesthetics of Main Street. “It came up as a way of talking about how to be more proactive in economic development.”

Lawrence, who currently supervises the fire marshal’s office, said the change will mean that if the fire marshal’s office notices problems, they may act.

“The way I took it, instead of waiting on a complaint to be called in, we’re going to actively pursue going out and writing complaints on our own,” Lawrence said.

He echoed the sentiments of committee members who said they did not want to delve too far into people’s personal habits but who wanted another avenue available to address problem areas.

“I don’t want to be big brother, but I think there are some properties that need to be cleaned up that people haven’t complained about. I don’t know whether they are afraid or don’t want to want to get involved or what, and I think that was the feeling of the committee,” Lawrence added.

Since the law was enacted, the city has responded to 327 complaints, with officials citing 42 cases in to city court for non-compliance and also clearing debris from at least four city properties.

In the past, after a complaint was received by an outside party, a letter describing the problem was sent to the property owner or occupant via certified mail. The offender was given 30 days to correct it. Typically, the offender was cited into city court and fined for non-compliance.

After a conviction for violating the ordinance, city officials could choose to remove the junk themselves. Now, there won’t necessarily have to be a citizen-initiated complaint before the letter can be written.

Lawrence said while many junk-laden properties have been addressed in recent years, there are some lingering problems. Other officials Monday noted “general” complaints of some properties on Beersheba Street.

“We’ve gotten a whole lot of properties cleaned up, but there’s still a few out there,” Lawrence said.