Zoning employees given power to write tickets
|
The change was made Tuesday by McMinnville?s Building and Grounds Committee.
?This will save time and expedite the process,? said Planning and Zoning director Jim Brock while explaining why he feels the change is a good one. ?Right now, we have to wait on an officer to write a citation. This would remove that step from the process.?
Currently the department has to call for a police officer to issue a citation about three to four times a year.
With this change, Brock hopes that number will decrease.
?I think if people know we have the authority to do that,? said Brock, ?I think they will go ahead and fix the violation and we won?t have to keep worrying with it.?
As for the new responsibility, Brock says the department will only give citations in extreme situations and mostly for property maintenance, unfit structures, mowing and abandoned vehicles.
?We give people plenty of time to fix violations,? said Brock. ?We give people more than one chance. Some people just won?t.?