Planning director details 2024 code‑enforcement workload and cautions that rental‑inspection districts would require more staff

Kevin Vaughn, director of the Department of Planning and Development Review (PDR), briefed the Public Safety Standing Committee on the work and capacity of the city’s Property Maintenance and Code Enforcement (PMCE) division and on a residential rental‑inspection ordinance introduced to City Council the previous night.

Vaughn said PMCE enforces primarily two sections of city code: Chapter 5 (building code, adopted from the state building code, covering defective maintenance and unsafe structures) and Chapter 11 (environmental code, covering tall grass and accumulation of refuse). He provided 2024 activity figures: more than 4,200 new code cases started; just over 4,000 notices of violation (NOVs) issued (about 1,000 for defective maintenance and 2,500 for environmental issues); 308 unsafe-structure determinations; and 193 properties abated (grass/weeds or boarding). Vaughn said PMCE closed more than 7,500 cases in 2024, of which about 5,000 were closed as compliant and roughly 2,200 were closed where inspectors "did not observe a violation." He said the department issued 70 demolition permits in 2024 (69 at owners' request and one initiated by the city) and added 199 vacant buildings to the city's vacant‑building registry (about 550 total on the registry).

On proactive enforcement, Vaughn described daytime and nighttime teams, multi‑department coordination with police, fire, finance, taxes and the health district, and monthly targeted inspections that in 2024 resulted in 15 field inspections of 45 properties yielding 80 NOVs and 462 recorded deficiencies. He said PMCE also runs a derelict‑building program and coordinates with third‑party contractors to abate properties and charge the cost back to owners when owners do not remedy violations.

Vaughn addressed a recently introduced ordinance to establish a residential rental‑inspection program. He said the ordinance, as introduced, would authorize a program but does not create any inspection districts. The ordinance would allow proactive inspections in a designated district once every four years, but Vaughn said council should evaluate district size and unit counts before establishing any district because large districts would require additional inspectors. He said PMCE has 32 authorized field inspectors but currently has 28 filled positions.

Counsel and staff discussed enforcement limits in landlord‑tenant scenarios. Deputy City Attorney Greg Lukanowski told the committee that in most cases NOVs result in compliance: "If they issue a 100 notices of violation, over 90 of them, people are going to comply with." He also noted that under state law either the owner, landlord or tenant may be responsible for a given violation and that the city enforces against property owners; landlord‑tenant remedies are available under the Virginia Landlord and Tenant Act.

Council members raised resident concerns — high grass after heavy rain, repeated illegal dumping, abandoned vehicles and safety in high‑speed corridors where homeowners are reluctant to maintain verge areas. Staff said typical response times for complaints are three days or less, with immediate responses for health‑or‑safety risks; stop‑work orders are used for unauthorized construction but enforcement can require follow‑up through court processes in prolonged or contested cases.

Vaughn recommended that conversations about establishing rental‑inspection districts be held before the fall budget process so staffing needs can be analyzed. The committee did not take formal action during the meeting; council had introduced the ordinance at the previous night's council session.