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JAMESTOWN, NY (WNY News Now) – Jamestown lawmakers are vying to give authority to Code Enforcement Officers to write tickets for violations.
The goal for the department of development is to lessen the amount of foot traffic in the Housing Court.
The proposed law would give authority to Code Enforcement Officers, the Fire Inspector, and any authoritative position in the city to write tickets for nuisance code violations.
Those include excess plant growth, junk and debris laying around, unregistered vehicles in lawns, and non cooking fires in city limits.
If someone does receive a ticket, within 48 hours, it may be dismissed if the violation was corrected. If it is not in the allocated time frame, the city can then clean the area up themselves and invoice the offender.
If a violator receives multiple fines, the cost will multiply for each ticketed violation.
There are also protections in place for landlords and tenants, to make sure the offender is the one facing criminal prosecution.
The ultimate goal, according to the DOD is to have lesser violators receive the tickets, making way for important violations to see the courtroom.
“What this will do is allow us, similar to what we’ve been able to see with the nuisance officer where he can directly ticket for nuisance quality of life type items,” explained Director of Development Crystal Surdyk. “This will allow Code Enforcement to issue a ticket immediately upon inspection.”
The version is only a draft, after comments from the city council and a review from the Corporation Council. The full law should be ready to be implemented by the end of the month.
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