Teeth to be put into zoning citations

(8/20) At the request of the Town’s zoning compliance officer, town staff will meet with the town lawyer to facilitate the next steps to be taken when a zoning citation violation is ignored.

The compliance officer told the Council that there were multiple people in town that had received multiple notices of violations of town codes who had yet to take any action or, for that matter, seemed inclined to take any. "Without some sort of monetary penalty, people are free to simply throw the citations in the trash."

The compliance officer said he talked to his counterparts in Walkersville and Thurmont and both suggested that he and the town staff get together with the town lawyer to draw up a notice that can be issued to the resident following the failure to address a zoning non-compliance.

This would include language notifying the recipient that unless the non-compliance was addressed, the recipient of the notice could/would be taken to court for a summary judgment.

Burgess Barnes agreed that something had to be done with those who have repeatedly failed to correct non-compliance. "In the case of notices of lawn height, this will give the Town the option to hire a lawn company to come in and cut the lawn and give the homeowner the bill. And if they refuse to pay the bill, the Town will be in a position to put a lien on the property."

He continued, "We may not get our money back right way, but the homeowner will not be able to sell their property until the lien is settled. So we’ll get paid one way or another."

The Town’s compliance officer also brought up the disparity between how some properties are treated versus others. "It’s hard to cite people for having an unlicensed car on their property only to have them point across the street at a lot in the business district with 80+ unlicensed cars and have them ask me why they can have 80+ cars yet they get cited for having only one."

Barnes said he was aware of the situation and that back in the early 1990s, "there had been some sort of ‘gentleman’s agreement’ between the Town, the Burgess at the time, and the property owner to allow the storing of cars on the lot. But the lot has turned into a ‘junk yard,’ which is not allowed under the current town code."

Barnes said that the Town will also address this particular issue when they meet with the town lawyer.