Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register
The Springfield City Council is bringing the hammer down on habitual code violators. Council members voted unanimously Tuesday evening to slap property owners and renters with fines for noncompliance that progressively increase with each offense.
Under the new language, those who violate city code will be fined $150 for a first offense if the problem is not dealt with within the time the property owner or renter is given by Public Works inspectors. If there’s a second violation within a 24-month period, violators will face a $300 fine. A third violation and every one thereafter within that span will lead to an automatic $500 fine.
Violators would also be responsible for any costs if Public Works crews have to fix the problem.
The ordinance, brought forward by Ward 10 Ald. Ralph Hanauer, earned the support of and was sponsored by every council member. Nearly all have expressed frustration about habitual code violators in their wards.
Up to now, the only way the city often could ensure compliance was by taking code violators to administrative court, a costly and time-consuming process. And if the violation was corrected before the court hearing, fines typically were dropped.
Passage of the ordinance signals a shift in strategy from simply gaining compliance to deterring bad behavior in the future.
City attorney Jim Zerkle estimated that there were about 250 to 300 code violations last year in which compliance occurred before a scheduled administrative court hearing. Those violations would result in fines under the new language.
Though it appears they are getting closer to yes, a majority of council members voted down another attempt to vote on Mayor Jim Langfelder’s long-stalled nominations to a city commission meant to make recommendations on housing policy.
The attempt, brought by Ward 1 Ald. Chuck Redpath, received support only from Ward 4 Ald. John Fulgenzi and Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin.
Langfelder’s appointments to the seven-person body have been held in committee for more than two months, with council members expressing concerns over representation in his picks, who are Karen Davis, Roy Williams, Calvin Pitts, Dean Graven, Ron Duff, Dede Murphy and Bill Basket.
Langfelder has sought to address those concerns by adding an eighth seat on the advisory body reserved for a renter. He has nominated Erica Austin, program coordinator for the SIU School of Medicine, for that seat.
It appears the council will wait to consider the nominees until after it votes on two proposed ordinances that are on first reading. The first would limit the number of city commissions and boards a person can sit on to one. The second would require that members be residents of Springfield. The earliest these will be up for final action will be at the next council meeting in three weeks.
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Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 