Sean C. Morgan
The city Public Safety Committee on Feb. 11 reviewed a second draft of an ordinance that would allow the City Council to close nuisance properties where certain prohibited activities occur too often.
“We used Stayton as a blueprint,” said Police Chief Jeff Lynn. The proposed language is largely based on Stayton’s ordinance, although it includes additional prohibited activities, such as possession of controlled substances.
City Attorney Robert Snyder reworked some of the language in Stayton’s ordinance to more closely match reflect what the committee has been looking for.
“The first draft was to get an idea to see if the Public Safety Committee wanted to proceed with it,” Lynn said. Members of the committee were interested in developing an ordinance, and Snyder went to work on the new draft.
Following last week’s meeting, Snyder is reworking more of the ordinance language, Lynn said, and he needs to talk to Municipal Court Judge Larry Blake to make sure jurisdiction is correct.
Under the proposal, if a property has two instances of prohibited behavior in a 90-day period, the police chief will forward a letter to the property owner, occupant and property manager to set up a meeting to discuss issues with the property.
On the third offense, the city may seek a voluntary compliance agreement, Lynn said. After three additional violations during a period outlined in the agreement, the council may decide to initiate court action or take other actions it deems appropriate.
The court may impose a fin of up to $500 for each offense and close the property for 30 to 180 days.
“It’s a fairly lengthy process,” Lynn said. “Again, we want to be able to use it as a tool.”
The current draft will be amended, Lynn said, and then returned to the Public Safety Committee, which will then decide whether to send it to the full council.
Committee members are Greg Mahler, Dave Trask and Bruce Hobbs.