Washington Terrace council adopts ordinance 25-04 giving administrative authority for property cleanups

The Washington Terrace City Council on Oct. 21 approved Ordinance 25‑04, adopting Chapter 2.18 (administrative proceedings) and amending Chapter 8.16 (inspection and cleaning) to create an administrative process for remediation of nuisance or hazardous properties.

City staff described the ordinance as an additional enforcement tool to address properties that "are not making any progress" on compliance. Staff emphasized the measure is meant to be a last resort and provides significant time for property owners to comply; the presentation stated property owners would have up to six months to come into compliance before the city could undertake cleanup actions.

Councilmember discussion was limited; staff said the ordinance can be amended later if needed and noted the city typically resolves many issues through voluntary compliance. A motion to approve Ordinance 25‑04 was made and seconded; during roll call the council recorded affirmative votes and the mayor declared the measure approved unanimously.

The motion on the record was: "I move that we approve ordinance 25 0 4, the adopting chapter 2.18 and amending chapter 8.16 in the code." The transcript did not identify the motion mover or seconder by name in the roll-call sequence. The council recorded spoken "Yes" votes for the listed members during roll call and the mayor announced the vote was unanimous. No amendments were made at the meeting.