Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Legal Services

TO:	Toni Ramirez Wheeler, Director of Legal Services
FROM:	Scott J. Miller, Staff Attorney
Date:	May 22, 2008
RE:	Ordinance 8280 – Trash Abatement

At your request, and with the consultation of Brian Jimenez, Code Enforcement Manager, I have prepared amendments to the City’s Environmental Code, Article 6 of Chapter IX of the City Code.  The purpose of these amendments is to provide the City’s enforcement staff with a method of taking expedited enforcement and abatement action against the owners of properties where junk or refuse has accumulated.

Under the current version of Section 9-607 of the City Code, a notice of violation must be sent to a property owner or other potentially responsible party by certified mail 15 days prior to the initiation of enforcement or abatement actions for exterior conditions pertaining to yards or porches.  In addition, it has become a matter of custom to precede the notice of violation with a courtesy notice, even though such a courtesy notice is not required by the ordinance.  As a result, it often takes 30 days after a condition is detected to trigger any definitive enforcement or abatement action.

The regulations that apply to yards and porches do not only control the accumulation of junk and refuse, but also apply to the storage of useful items as well.  The impetus behind the amendment of the ordinance was concerns about the accumulation of junk or refuse, as those terms are defined in the Environmental Code.  With the exception of some slight changes in the method of service of notices of violation, the remainder of the ordinance is left untouched regarding accumulations of items that are not either junk or refuse.

The ordinance speeds up the enforcement and abatement process by reducing the time that an owner or occupant of property has to either clean up the problem or request a hearing following the service of a notice of violation.  For yard or porch violations involving junk or refuse, the alleged offender must either alleviate the condition or request a hearing within seven days of service of the notice of violation.  For all other violations, the time periods remain the same as under the current ordinance, which vary between 15 and 30 days.

In order to facilitate the new shorter time periods, the method of service of the notice of violation is altered.  Instead of service by certified mail, the new provision requires posting notice at the property and notifying the record owners at their last known address by first class mail.  Posting the property at the beginning of the process should allow an owner or occupant to start taking immediate steps to clean up the problem.

In addition to the changes discussed above, I would recommend that the courtesy notice be eliminated and that the notice of violation be redrafted to incorporate much of the information presented in the courtesy notice.  Courtesy notices are not required by the ordinance and delay the process beyond the apparent guidelines of the law.  The notice of violation, on the other hand, does not necessarily need to take the form of a legal pleading and can be more informational and less confrontational than the current form used without sacrificing effectiveness.

These changes, taken together, should allow for a much more effective staff response regarding junk or refuse issues under the environmental code.  Please contact me with any questions or for any clarification.