Code Red: Find common ground on enforcement

Property owners shouldn’t be able to crack the city’s Code.

But that is exactly what happened in the case of landlords creating boarding houses out of their single-family homes.

That issue came to a head at Monday’s City Council meeting when residents demanded relief from overcrowded dwellings that they claim are driving down property values and impeding their quality of life.

Code Enforcement issues like this one are familiar for the city as of late.

At a city planning session last month, City Manager Greg Kisela told city councilors that Code Enforcement agents could be as lenient or iron-fisted as the council directed.

The problem was there didn’t seem to be a consensus. Leaders quickly moved on without giving further direction to Kisela or staff.

Then, at Monday’s meeting, city leaders decided to close loopholes in rules governing single-family homes.

But that addresses only one of the Code Enforcement woes. Besides, much of the current outcry over so-called boarding houses seems to be directed at one or two landlords who have found a way around existing city ordinances.

A more visible problem for many residents is the torn couches and junk cars on overgrown front lawns.

A better way than this piece-meal approach is to overhaul the city’s code and ensure that Code Enforcement can enforce the ordinances it has on the books.

Kisela acknowledges it will take months for city staffers to draft new ordinances and months more to crack down on landlords and homeowners.

The council would be wise to sharpen the teeth of the entire Code Enforcement Department before the World’s Luckiest Fishing Village becomes the world’s trashiest.