How to Start a Code Enforcement Program
Zoning ordinances and codes protect a community's appearance and viability. Such laws allow towns and cities to stop people from maintaining a junk yard in a residential neighborhood or growing their lawn until it turns into a meadow. Codes are also in place to protect public safety and empower the local government to remedy dilapidated structures that are a threat to other building owners or pedestrians. Putting such devices in place requires the creation of a code enforcement office and the cooperation of the municipal and state governments.
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Things You'll Need
- State building and property codes manual (in print form or online).
- Resolution from local governing body to create code enforcement office and additional or revised codes.
- Approval from appropriate state government and/or state department
Instructions
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Taking steps to making rules
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Call your local state representative to get an understanding of what is needed to establish a code enforcement office in your community, if one does not already exist, and if there are any incentives or grant programs for doing so. Typically, localities adopt existing state codes for their own ordinances. The code enforcement department itself and the codes it puts in place must be approved by the local town board, city council or village board of trustees.
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Obtain public input on the creation of a codes department and code enforcement officer, and what types of ordinances they would like to see in place, whether it's regulating debris on properties or requiring all homes to be hooked up to a public sewer system. Weigh that input in the decision on whether to move forward. Legally, a public hearing might be required before such an action takes place. The attorney representing the local governing body should be involved in each step.
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Research codes. Look at the state website for code enforcement to see what laws are already on the books and what can be adopted by local governments; some may vary by population or proximity to farms, highways, railroad lines and bodies of water. Contact neighboring communities, or communities with similar demographics, to see what ordinances they have and get a sense of what is or is not working for them.
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Hire a trained and certified code enforcement officer to enforce the ordinances. Some communities just have part-time code enforcement officers or contract with companies that provide such services for municipalities. Code enforcement officers should have passed one certified exam on housing and property maintenance and one on zoning, according to the American Association of Code Enforcement.
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Tips & Warnings
State laws for fire safety codes and regulations may be mandatory and would supersede some measures at the local level. Sprinkler systems in hotels or fire escapes on any building over three stories high, for example, would be a state requirement, not a local one. The same applies for certain state health laws, such as requiring homes in densely populated neighborhoods to have potable water supplies.
Be sure to find out if your community has existing ordinances. Some rural towns have local laws governing the designated areas for residential neighborhoods, businesses and farms, but no code enforcement officer to enforce compliance.
Involvement by state or county legislature varies. Adoption of ordinances may take effect as soon as the local law is filed with the department of state, and would not require approval from the state legislature. But changes to a town or city charter, such as adding a new department when one did not exist before, may require approval from county or state lawmakers.
