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Howard County adopts nuisance ordinance and signals new compliance officer to enforce it
Summary
The Howard County Board of Commissioners passed Ordinance 2025-BCCO-13 creating a public nuisance ordinance addressing abandoned vehicles, junk and garbage and indicating the county will add a compliance officer to enforce the rules.
The Howard County Board of Commissioners adopted Ordinance 2025-BCCO-13, a countywide nuisance ordinance that addresses abandoned vehicles, garbage and junk and will be enforced by a compliance officer the board said it plans to hire.
The ordinance, described at the meeting as a long-awaited measure, was presented for consideration and approved after discussion acknowledging that the measure does not cover every possible issue — it exempts farm machinery and does not address animals — but is intended to give the county a tool to respond to repeated resident complaints.
Commissioner Lipinski thanked colleagues and staff for their work on the measure and said the ordinance will help address recurring calls from residents. One commissioner emphasized enforcement as the objective, saying the county must have a compliance officer because “you can't have a nuisance and not enforce it.” The board passed the ordinance by voice vote; no roll-call vote was recorded in the transcript.
Copies of the ordinance were offered to commissioners at the meeting. The meeting record does not specify the compliance officer's hiring timeline, funding source, or enforcement procedures.
