Newark council presses administration on inspections, code enforcement and UCC; corporation counsel to deliver report

Council members and residents at a Feb. 25 special meeting of the Newark Municipal Council pressed city officials for clearer enforcement on building inspections, illegal conversions and Uniform Construction Code (UCC) compliance, prompting Corporation Counsel Kenyatta Stewart to promise a written report by Friday and a full council discussion at the next pre-meeting on Tuesday.

Council members described recurring code and inspection problems across wards and asked for specific information from the courts on how many enforcement actions are dismissed for technical errors. "Could we get some data back from the courts in terms of what percentage of these code enforcement violations end up getting dismissed in court because of technical violations?" Councilman Ramos asked. Councilman Kelly and others said residents continue to…