DEPARTMENT: Development Services
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Michael Shannon
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT:
Commercial Corridor Code Sweeps
SUMMARY:
Discussion will focus on proactive code enforcement sweeps along commercial corridors across the city. This includes identifying the corridors within each council district that meet the targeted criteria and creating a timeline and action plan for implementation. Proactively addressing these concerns will help improve revitalization efforts throughout the City and reduce the visual blight in highly traveled corridors.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Councilmember Clayton Perry, District 10, submitted a Council Consideration Request (CCR) on June 28, 2017 asking City staff to establish code enforcement sweeps focused on main arterial commercial corridors. These commercial corridors can include those located within the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) boundaries, commercial areas targeted for revitalization, and/or commercial corridors with a high rate of code violations.
In the spring of 2017, former Councilmember Mike Gallagher, District 10, requested a project within the Perrin Beitel and Nacogdoches commercial corridor. This corridor is located within a TIRZ and is also part of a commercial revitalization program. Code Enforcement staff worked within the selected corridor for four weeks and identified 422 code violations. Of these, 92% were brought into compliance. The most common violations were for lack of valid certificate of occupancy, bandit signs, and property maintenance issues.
ISSUE:
Visual blight viewed on the highly traveled corridors can present a negative impact in the revitalization efforts throughout the City. Proactively targeting this blight within the commercial corridors will encourage property owners to continue to maintain their properties and improve the health, safety, and overall quality of life of all residents.
The Development Services Department currently has a Neighborhood Enhancement Team (NET) consisting of 10 Code Enforcement staff with the capacity to conduct two neighborhood code sweeps per month for a total of 24 per year. Neighborhood and corridor sweeps are currently conducted in areas warranting additional attention as identified by DSD staff, specific Council requests, or high profile events such as the Martin Luther King march or Siclovia events.
As proposed in Councilmember Perry’s CCR, City staff recommended to the Governance Committee to begin identifying commercial corridors across the city, along with developing an action plan and timeline for code enforcement sweeps along these areas, to include sustainability of these scheduled projects. The proposed plan will identify up to 24 sweeps to be conducted in FY 2018 with current resources. Projects will be completed in each Council District with a focus on those violations which contribute to visual blight, including outside storage, junked vehicles, and illegal dumping.
The sweeps will consist of four phases: pre-sweep notices, education, inspections, and enforcement. It is anticipated that each sweep will last approximately four to five weeks and will include pre- and post-surveys to gauge the sweeps’ impact to the area.
Therefore, as proposed in Councilmember Perry’s CCR, City staff recommends providing an action plan and list of recommended corridors and neighborhoods for sweeps. Staff will seek the Council committee’s assistance in prioritizing the list of proposed sweeps projects to be completed in FY 2018.
ALTERNATIVES:
As an alternative, the Community Health & Equity Committee could choose not to move forward with the timeline and action plan for commercial corridor sweeps as proposed. This will result in the continued focus of code sweeps in residential areas only.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The fiscal impact is unknown at this time but may include additional resource needs based on the result of code/program development.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends moving forward with presenting an action plan and timeline for each of the ten council districts to ensure sustainability of the scheduled projects. Staff also recommends working closely with each council district to ensure that the corridors are correctly identified and prioritized.