JASON NEVEL
Jun 12, 2012
City officials at Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting unanimously approved expanding the list of offenses police could use to get a property declared a chronic nuisance. The change Tuesday, if approved by the full council, also would expand the time barriers police face in having a property investigated a chronic nuisance.
A building can be declared a chronic nuisance property for repeat occurrences of drug or gambling violations or violent crimes, under the orinance. Under the proposed plan, incidents that occur twice in a 60-day period could lead to a property being declared a chronic nuisance, as could three investigations in 365 days.
Once that happens, Williams said the police department would send the landlord a notification that the property is considered a nuisance. If the problem is not resolved, the city could take the owner of the property to court.
Ward 7 Alderman Joe McMenamin said the proposed changes Tuesday are directed at landlords who don’t take responsibility for their properties and their tenants. “This increases the number of triggers that are violations, so that’s a major change,” McMenamin said. “I think it will give good landlords a faster route to get rid of bad tenants.”
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 