New law strengthens enforcement for tall grass, trash violations in Newark - Newark Post

A new law gives the City of Newark the ability to more quickly crack down on property owners who repeatedly let grass and weeds grow out of control or garbage to accumulate on their property.

Currently, the code dictates that when a property is cited for a violation, the resident has 10 days to fix the problem. After that, the city can hire a contractor to mow the lawn or clean up the trash. The city bills the property owner for the work, plus a 50 percent administrative fee.

Under the new law, the city can bypass the 10-day waiting period when the property owner is cited for grass or weeds a second time within a year. For trash violations, the city remediation process can begin two days after the second citation is issued.

Council members said the change is important because it allows the city to address the small percentage of properties that repeatedly cause a nuisance for their neighbors.

“When I read this, this was Christmas for me,” Councilwoman Dwendolyn Creecy said. “When I first ran for office, this was one of my big things – eyesores, trash and just not caring about the area in which you live.”

“There are certain properties within my district that are continual problems every year, and no doubt in March, they’re going to be a problem again,” he said.

City officials originally proposed writing the law so that a second violation within 18 months triggered the quicker enforcement, but agreed to reduce it to 12 months in response to concerns from the Newark Landlord Association. The landlords argued that many rental properties change tenants each year, and it’s not fair to penalize a new tenant for an earlier violation by the previous tenant.

However, McDermott advocated for making it 18 months.

“The landlords do have a responsibility,” he said. “They should be checking on their properties. They should be staying on top of some of those issues.”

Council ultimately went with 12 months, honoring the compromise city officials made with the landlords, who originally wanted additional changes to the law.

“I’m not in the mindset to tinker with something that was a kumbaya moment amongst the stakeholders,” Mayor Jerry Clifton said.

source: https://www.newarkpostonline.com/news/new-law-strengthens-enforcement-for-tall-grass-trash-violations-in-newark/article_bbaa3b41-3f62-5560-abc6-0b74a75477bd.html

Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.