Washington looks to establish ordinance to battle blight
The city of Washington is working to develop an ordinance to help combat blight.
Mayor Scott Putnam explained the city wants to develop a quality-of-life ticketing ordinance.
“It’s something we looked at years ago, but it still was not very well-received across the state,” Putnam said. “We’re taking a look at it to see if it works for the city.”
Such an ordinance would expedite the enforcement process as the city could possibly ticket properties for violations that add blight to the city.
The current process can be lengthy.
If code enforcement is provided with a complaint, the property is inspected, and the owner given a certain number of days to resolve any violations. If compliance isn’t achieved, code enforcement can issue a citation, which then proceeds to court. It can be a couple of months before a hearing takes place.
“(Code enforcement officer) Jeff (Donatelli) is doing all he can, but getting things through the magistrate’s office and the process that it takes, by the time you get there it’s too late,” Putnam said. “This gets you right to the head of the line. “
Dealing with a ticket instead of a court process quickens matters. Only if the fine is not paid does the matter reach the magistrate’s office with this type of ordinance in place.
Having a quality-of-life ticketing ordinance would allow the city to levy a fine for violation of property maintenance such as high grass, garbage dumping, and similar issues. If the ordinance is developed in such a way, a property can be ticketed every day with fines increasing along the way.
“This may be a way to curb some of these speculators from buying vacant lots on tax sale and not doing anything with them,” Putnam said during Monday’s council agenda meeting. “Getting an ordinance like that in place would go a long way toward helping us cure some of that.”
Also, pickleball continues to be popular at Washington Park. With that in mind, there is a plan to create more courts.
“We only have four permanent courts,” explained DeAnna Martin, park director. “What we’re looking to do now is develop some of our tennis courts with permanent lines so they can be utilized for both sports.”
Tom Hincy, a Washington Pickleball Club board member, told council Monday night that putting permanent lines in place on three of the tennis courts would create six additional pickleball courts.
Hincy said the cost for the lines, nets and a gate between the pickleball courts and the tennis courts would cost around $15,000. He added that support has been pledged by the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency.
“I think we’ve got a major commitment from the tourism group for more than that,” he said.
Putnam asked for a written breakdown of the plan to be provided so council can act on it.
The pickleball club has 71 members, but Hincy said that number could easily reach 120 if the courts were available.
A recent tournament, hosted by the club, featured 93 matches with 76 participants.