Tackling Quality of Life Issues
by Cindy Goldstein -
Building Inspector Scott Ransom opened the Board of Trustees (BOT) Work Session on September 28 by reciting code enforcement statistics from the past 12 months. Residents have been asking for more robust code enforcement because violations negatively affect everyone’s quality of life.
By the Numbers
Ransom reported that 584 violations were written for the following code infringements: Garbage (174), Rodents (17), Construction-related (62), and Fire Safety (52). The balance was for various other violations such as weeds, sidewalks, etc.
Code enforcement officials wrote most violations (443), with the fire inspector writing 103 and the Assistant Building Inspector writing 38.
A Recent Uptick in Violations Cited
In the last 6 months (from April 1 to date), the number of violations issued shows a stepped-up effort to enforce the code. Of the total issued in the past year (584), approximately two-thirds occurred in the last 6 months. Ransom said the effort is to get people to comply with the law. Working closely with the Village prosecutor, violators can be cited for both a NYS violation (an unclassified misdemeanor) and the Village violation, effectively increasing the overall penalty.
Focus on Washingtonville and Mamaroneck Avenue
Ransom said the Washingtonville neighborhood and Mamaroneck Avenue were the focus of compliance efforts, especially for rodents and garbage. He reported a good overall compliance rate, especially among businesses.
When Mayor Sharon Torres asked about holidays, Ransom admitted there wasn’t much that could be done, as those violations come from “honest mistakes” due to the pick-up schedule change. Trustee Dan Kushnick asked if the BOT should increase fines to encourage compliance. The BOT also discussed overcrowding violations and how to identify those. Ransom stated that each multi-family building requires an annual fire inspection that could highlight overcrowding, but it takes time to inspect all of the buildings.
Next Steps
Village Manager Kathleen Gill summarized the discussion into three action items to be investigated: 1) mandatory minimum fines, especially for repeat offenders, 2) working on identifying areas of Village code that can be strengthened, and 3) instituting procedures where Department of Public Works (DPW) employees put stickers advising residents of the violation (garbage) and then flagging the address for the code enforcement officer to follow up.
