Prosecuting someone criminally for blight violations may seem harsh, but it drives home the point that laws that govern a community must be followed.
A property owner in violation of the city’s blight ordinance was taken to court recently by the city. As a result, the violations have been corrected and if they remain so for one year, the criminal complaint against the property owner will be dismissed, according to city Attorney Steve Shermoen.
Blight violations can involve dilapidated buildings, junk cars, lengthy grass and other issues.
The city’s ordinances are in place to keep properties safe and in good repair. Those issues can keep property values of surrounding properties at appropriate levels as well as improving the community’s appearance.
The city’s “fight on blight” has begun accomplishing those goals by using door-hanging notifications as well as through visits by city officials if the violations are not corrected in a timely matter.
Clearly, the city followed its process in this case without resolving the issue and city officials were right to take the case to court to get the violations corrected.
In this case, resolution included the property owner paying $400 toward the city’s cost to prosecute the case, which will be dismissed if the property owner continues to be free of the blight violation for one year.
Seems fair. After all, this case was the focus of many complaints and concerns voiced by other property owners who must follow the city’s rules and are concerned about the violation’s impact to their own property values and safety.
This case should highlight for others just how serious this community is about blight factors.
While area leaders are working hard to draw businesses and companies here to increase the tax base and offer jobs to our residents, our neighborhoods ought to reflect the pride we take in our community and the city’s fight on blight is doing just that.
