A Phased Proposal to Improve Code and Building Enforcement in Lewisville

By Frank Vaughan

The City of Lewisville has seen a number of shifts in the community. Recent demographic changes coupled with a downturn in the economy have left the city in a difficult position when it comes to quality of life and property maintenance issues, especially on the East side.

This creates a daunting picture for code enforcement officers: A higher number of properties that are in between owners due to foreclosures, business owners that lack the capital required to perform regular maintenance and upkeep on properties, and a growing group of citizens with little ownership or connection to the city. The current conditions could be leading to a tipping point in the East side, where the lack of upkeep on properties can lead a majority of property owners to feel they can ignore compliance to codes as they are no longer relevant or regularly enforced.

To prevent code and building enforcement issues from overwhelming the city, this enforcement must be set as a priority for the city council. Best practices in enforcement often include the adoption of innovative practices that engage in proactive and aggressive enforcement that engages all community stakeholders.

Code enforcement serves three purposes in a city:

- To ensure safety within the community
- To maintain a high quality of life
- To create an environment conducive to economic development

This is a proposal for changes that are cost neutral or low cost, with the idea that any additional costs incurred can be paid for by increased property values. None of the individual proposal s and suggestions alone will solve the problem. If the City Council makes code enforcement a commitment, and adopts a progressive active vision, improvements in the city can be made.

Abandoned, unsecured building on College St. and Valley Ridge.

Recently secured abandoned building off Mill Street.

- With the increase in vacant and abandoned properties, properly securing and policing these buildings should take on a higher priority for code, building and police/fire enforcement.

- Require all vacant structures to have a permit, be structurally sound, have a fence that meets code requirements, and have doors secured by locks plus plywood over windows painted in a complimentary color if needed.

- If property owners are unable or unwilling to comply, the city should take action on the owner and file a lien for corrective actions taken.

Unsecured abandoned building – Charles Street

Construction materials, trash and debris outside a commercial zoned building on Lynne Street.

Abandoned property at Herod and Church St. zoned commercial.

- Undeveloped and commercial use properties are held to a lower standard than residential properties.

- For example, the abandoned property at Herod and Church (right) is zoned commercial. Parking is allowed on the grass on this commercial property, but not in residential properties next door. Grass, weeds and debris exceed standards.

- Standardize to one type of height measurement for weed growth; currently 6 inches in developed areas versus 12 inches for certain commercial and undeveloped properties.

- By setting uniform standards, citizens, police, and other city employees will have an easier time identifying properties that are in violation. Grass and weed overgrowth and/or trash and debris presence is a leading indicator that the property owner is falling behind on maintenance of the property.

- When small violations are spotted, quick response ensures that property owners are made aware of community standards and that no violation will be tolerated.

Parking on grass is allowed on this commercial lot, next to a single family residence where it is not allowed. Kealy and College Street.

- Research if it is legally possible to reduce number of days for a public nuisance hearing from 30 to 15 days after notice is given. Dallas reduced the days required from 45 to 15 and has seen marked improvement in West Dallas.

- Broken windows theory is a criminological theory of the norm setting and signaling effect of urban disorder and vandalism on additional crime and anti-social behavior. The theory states that maintaining and monitoring urban environments in a well-ordered condition may stop further vandalism and escalation into more serious crime.
- Police officers and other city workers spend the most time in the community and can see many violations. Department heads of all departments should issue directives for all employees to be actively on the lookout and report small code violations like broken windows, litter, overgrowth, yard junk, graffiti, etc. giving the current code department a boost in reporting issues for no additional costs.

- All city employees be made aware what a violation looks like and how to quickly and easily report them.
- Consider moving Building/Code enforcement to the Police department. Irving has done this and has improved responsiveness and effectiveness.

- Irving has the Code Cadet program and Fort Worth has a Code Ranger initiative that trains citizens on the codes and provides them a way to report and track each reported violation in order to gain compliance.
- These groups can augment the city’s code enforcement officers, giving them a no cost boost to city efforts.

- The City of Austin sets the performance measures based on compliance rather than number of case or fines. The goal of 98% compliance within 90 days was a more effective metric than just measuring violations or number of citations issues.
- Free up code officers to be more creative in finding solutions. Austin allows code enforcement officers to be creative and proactive in working to improve their areas.

- Include contractors in the area that can assist with common violations
- Include examples of expected community standards to educate owners as top what compliance looks like.
- Include a section on what happens when the owner does not abate the violations.

- Multiple teams composed of community stakeholders and city workers can be used to conduct an annual survey of community standards and violations. Violations are noted and cited at this time. A periodic inspection helps to identify issues early, so actions can be started before the situation has a chance to deteriorate.

- Dallas Morning News uses the “10 Drops in a Bucket” list.
- Toledo Ohio uses a ‘Dirty Dozen” list on the city webpage.

- Many cities report that multi-tenant and rental units have a higher probability of violation of codes

- Costs can be offset by fees collected.

- Dallas requires properties of three or more units to register as multi-tenant locations and they are inspected every three years.

- San Diego requires owners to file a ‘Statement of Intent” to bring structures up to code standards, with expected period of vacancy, maintenance plan during period of vacancy, plan and timeline for lawful occupancy, rehab or demolition of structure.

- Overlay property information on a Google Map or MapQuest with an overlay layer.

- Give visibility on individual property issues and enforcement actions being taken.

- Allows searches in neighborhoods, reducing duplicative reports of violations.

- Community members should be able to have visibility on progress on problem properties.

- Introduce a public shaming aspect.