Same things happening on Brookes Ave with no end in sight-same houses having re-occurring issues. How long do landlords have to fix dispose properly of trash on property? How many times can the same thing occur to enforce consequences. How can we find solutions instead of this repetitive process?

Unanswered letter to Code Enforcement attached:
I have been sticking to using SCF for issues on Brookes Ave. I am finding the issues are not getting resolved and are continuing to occur and occur more often.

And thought I would ask you some questions like: what is a reasonable amount of time to fix or put away or dispose of illegal dumped items? And what are the consequences of not doing what is required by code enforcement.

I have become frustrated because issues are occurring over and over.

-vinyl siding continues to flap in the wind. Reported to SCF told to call police or landlord. Called landlord two weeks ago. Received note in door today saying they will fix "sometime" next week. (Month has passed by-and will it actually be fixed next week) ((**NOTE-as of Feb 11 issue is still not resolved-2 month so far and not resolved.))

-illegally dumped items (TV and mattresses of recent) are taking upwards of a month to be disposed of legally. TV is a hazardous item to have been left for so long on lawn. Mattress remains and has yet to be disposed of legally.

-cars parking on green-space repeatedly. Photos document this. In report issue #'s of previous occasions same car has parked there documented. SCF goes out days later to review only to report "car is gone no tracks on snow" Which is extremely frustrating. Instead of continual reports what is being done to resolve this situation? So it does not continue to occur?

Tickets, fines leans on properties after 3 or more reports? Sounds good to me-how can we make it happen?

Issue acknowledged.

Peter,

I understand your concern and can assure you the property owner knows about these issues as they are reported. I set up a watch area for the property manager and property owner back in the fall so they would receive these complaints as the come in just like city staff receives notifications. I would encourage them to speak up and post comments like we do, but we cannot make them talk on SeeClickFix, but we can have them fix specific problems.

I can assure you they hear from us. The property owner has expressed concerns to me that we have targeted him because of the repeated issues and complaints.

The specific piece of trash (the piece of vinyl) is gone this afternoon. If there is something else that needs to be corrected today please be specific.

The property owner will hear about it.

Thank you Mr. Ward, I appreciate your response. For now, everything is covered in snow....we'll wait until the thaw to see what's been left out ;)

Jen,

The answer to your question about a reasonable amount of time to fix or put away or dispose of illegal dumped items is…It depends on the situation and the factors associated with the problems.

I will include a few examples:
If a general repair item gets reported the standard under the housing code is 30 days for a repair to be made. It could be less time depending on the inspector's determination that it was a life threatening situation or something similar.

For trash or debris the time provided for removal depends on the type of debris and if is a threat to the public health. Loose household trash at the curb is typically required to be removed immediately and in severe cases a ticket will be issued on the day we discover it. Because the person we typically ticket is the property owner, we like to make sure they are notified promptly of it so they will remove it quickly. Most property owners are responsible.

If a piece of debris is not in the front yard, the property owner is notified and given a reasonable amount of time to remove it. We don’t have set number of days. Items in the back yard are judged by the type of item, the risk to the public and a reasonable amount of time is provided for compliance. This winter has been a good example for us to witness the challenges of being shorthanded. We have had days when we are at about 50% of staff due to illnesses. If a property owner tells us their maintenance person was out sick for the week, we would understand. There is a lot of illness going around.

When property owner does not comply we issue tickets they are $100 for the first offense and $200 for the second offense.

If there are unresolved issues we encourage you to point them out. That's why we use SeeClickFix, so people can see what we do. If we don't do something right, it's ok to point that out too.

Bill Ward
Director of Code Enforcement
wward@burlingtonvt.gov

This issue is closed.