If good fences make good neighbors, as the old saying goes, then maybe clear codes make good neighbors, too. So goes the thinking behind Warrensburg’s new push to clarify some fuzzy rules.
On Wednesday, the Warrensburg Town Board discussed a list of suggested code changes brought to the fore by the Planning and Code Enforcement Department .
The town made no decisions and did not change codes at the meeting, said Supervisor Kevin Geraghty, adding, the meeting was the start of a process that may take as long as 90 days.
“All these proposals are an accumulation of concerns” from the Planning and Code Enforcement Department, Geraghty said in an interview. “It was an ask from them.”
Code enforcement officer Jim Hull explained that people often do not know the rules and when faced with them, they find work-arounds.
The snow storm yesterday is a great example. He said that by code home owners cannot block the sidewalks using any number of items: cars, garbage cans or leaf piles, for instance. Yet, the code says nothing of snow.
“If I was to take you into court, you’d say it doesn’t say anything about snow,” Hull said.
Many of the changes are of this nature and small. How long can people leave “pop-up,” gazebo-style tents standing on their property? How is that tent defined? If it has walls, or is large enough to cover a car, is it different?
“You have no teeth in [the code] to make [people] take care of them once they’re up,” Hull said during the meeting. During the phone conversation, he added that people will leave those tents up until they are in tatters and plastic is flying into other people’s yards.
More seriously, the new codes, if adopted, will require people to get permits and prove they are working for a nonprofit before they can set collection sites for donations. Currently, Hull said, the unregulated sites can end up looking like garbage dumps.
Changes also will begin to define “mobile home,” “dwelling,” “structure” and similar words more clearly, following state and federal guidelines.
Both Hull and Geraghty said that the town has had trouble with structures and dwellings. Specifically, houses that the state or town have taken over because of unpaid taxes or because the property is a blight have been sold to individuals inexpensively. However, the new owner does nothing to improve the property.
The draft of the new code requires the new owner to improve the property and receive a certificate of occupancy for it within 18 months. This is code in other localities, Hull said.
“If you’re going to ask people to do things, you should tell them what you need them to do,” Hull said during the phone interview. Having clear rules and asking people to follow them: “It makes the neighbors happier.”
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For a list of the codes under consideration, click here.