Code Enforcement

The Code Enforcement Division provides a variety of services that address conditions inside and outside of buildings throughout the city.

Enforcement of the Property Maintenance code ensures that a minimum standard of appearance is maintained on the exterior of properties, and that minimum standards of habitability are maintained inside a variety of residential properties.

Rental properties are primarily governed, to sustain a fair quality of life for the tenants and the residents of the neighborhoods where such properties are located.

The Code Enforcement Officers are continually monitoring conditions of overcrowding, illegal conversions of units, and the detrimental effects such violations may have on the residents and neighbors.

Units that are designed for occupancy for one or two individuals cause many more problems when more tenants than they are designed for occupy them. A simple example is the parking situation. Parking is at a premium within the city, and overcrowding with people leads to overcrowding with vehicles.

There are also detrimental effects on sanitary facilities and services. Sanitary facilities designed for a limited number of tenants become overstressed to the failure point, and health hazards ensue.

The demands on such basic services as trash pickup are severely overstressed when tenant numbers are beyond the limits that the buildings are designed for. Overpopulation burdens virtually city services, including police, fire and emergency, and in some cases even our school system.