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Flagstaff code compliance staff say bulk pickups, sidewalk obstructions are monopolizing limited field resources
Summary
City code compliance staff told the Commission that bulk-trash piles, improperly placed trash cans and vehicles on sidewalks are taking up disproportionate time for a two-person field team; staff described enforcement steps and recent training for officers.
Reggie, a member of Flagstaff's code compliance staff, told the Commission that recent schedule changes and large amounts of bulk trash have strained the department’s small field team. “It's been a very big challenge for us and the code compliance department because of the schedule changes that obviously took place at the beginning of the year,” Reggie said.
The exchange matters because Reggie said the on-the-ground team is small and that sidewalk and walkability complaints are taking priority. “I have 2 staff members that are out in the field on a regular basis,” Reggie said. “We are heavily invested in dealing with walkability issues. And there's quite a few of them out there… vehicles being on the sidewalks.”
Reggie described the department's stepwise enforcement approach: staff attempt verbal contact or leave a door hanger, follow up with a written notice of violation, then escalate to legal steps if the property owner does not respond. “When we see a violation, the first steps we do is try to make contact… our first step will be to leave some type of door hanger, notifying them that we were there and we have found a violation,” Reggie said. He added that court actions are “pretty rare” because most residents respond once contacted.
Commissioners and liaisons raised concerns about response times and public safety risk when obstructions remain in place for weeks. Commissioner Keith suggested leveraging solid waste and other city workers as “eyes on the street” who could report problems early; Reggie said solid waste drivers do sometimes reach out and that safety issues are prioritized. Reggie also noted that recent staff training attendance temporarily reduced field availability: Kevin and Robert were away for a code compliance certification academy for several weeks.
Reggie described the range of codes his team uses when responding to complaints and pointed commissioners to the relevant City code titles: “The title that we deal with, predominantly for sidewalk issues and trash can issues are Title 8, which is called Public Way and Property, and also Title 7, which is Health and Sanitation… We do Title 10, which is zoning code. We have Title 9, which is traffic, and we deal with some engineering issues, some building code, which is Title 4, some business codes, which is Title 3.”
Commissioners suggested practical ideas—reporting by drivers, better scheduling coordination with solid waste and prioritization for safety hazards—while staff pledged to increase field presence in spring and summer and to continue training. Reggie said members of the Commission could forward reports directly to him or staff for faster responses.
The Commission did not take formal action on code compliance during this meeting; Reggie and commissioners agreed to continue coordination and to use liaison channels for follow-up.
