City hopes to enforce code compliance

Creston City Council discussed Feb. 20 changing a number of city ordinances in order to help enforce code compliance, requested by Bobby Wintermute, Creston’s code compliance officer. No action was taken.

Wintermute brought forward changes to a number of ordinances, including parking regulations, mowing of properties and solid waste control.

“Essentially, I’m presenting these because these will help me do my job smoother,” Wintermute said. “It will alleviate questions from the people I visit and give me a place to point them for the answer when they’re trying to argue against what I’m trying to do.”

Parking

Councilmember Kiki Scarberry questioned changes made to the parking regulations, which states any vehicle parked on the side yard of any corner lot must be on an all-weather surface driveway. An all-weather surface includes asphalt, concrete, turf blocks, gravel and brick.

“My only concern is, we have a lot of corner lots and their side yard is their backyard,” Scarberry said. “I just worry a little bit about having to have that all weather surface, like during the winter, if they’re storing a boat or a trailer and they have no other backyard to store.”

Wintermute explained the addition, saying the goal is to avoid yards full of mud ruts.

“They drive, drive, drive, and don’t care, and the mud gets in the street, which someone could say it’s not a problem, but that’s also in the code that you’re not supposed to put mud in the street,” Wintermute said. “Part of my job is appearances, making sure things look pleasing while you pass through town.”

Scarberry asked about instances when someone wasn’t driving through their yard daily, but instead was storing a boat or camper over the winter.

“They’re not driving in and out, they’re not creating mud,” Scarberry said. “I’m just concerned about the side yard part when it comes to corner lots that don’t have a backyard. Their side yard is their backyard. They should be able to park their boat, their camper there for the winter, and then drive it out.”

Wintermute said another issue regarding parking vehicles in someone’s yard is they often leave it there for years at a time. Councilmember Matt Levine suggested including a time limit for the long-term items, such as three or six months.

Mowing

Another change discussed was the lowering of the maximum grass height from 12 inches to 8 inches. Councilmember Steve Wintermute asked about the reasoning for the change.

“A foot seems like a lot and it seems like people abuse it very often. Last spring, I skipped the first date that we enforced that because it had been raining for multiple days in a row,” Bobby Wintermute said. “The very next date that it was applicable, there were 72 on my list that had not mowed their yard yet that year. The hope is, if it’s a lower number, eventually it would obligate people to mow faster, sooner.

Scarberry asked if this change would add too much more work for the city employees that mow the offending properties, but Bobby Wintermute said he believed the number of properties would not rise drastically.

The price of breaking the ordinance in the proposed changes went up from $75 per hour of mowing and a surcharge of $100 to $100 per hour of mowing and a surcharge of $150. Bobby Wintermute said this was due to a lack of price increase in recent years.

Some councilmembers said they would contact Bobby Wintermute later with more questions regarding the proposed ordinance changes. In order for any ordinance to change, each one will have to go through a separate process, from first reading to final approval.

Councilmember Jocelyn Blazek was not in attendance.