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Reno council orders update to property-maintenance code as downtown enforcement debate intensifies
Summary
City staff will draft an ordinance to adopt the 2024 International Property Maintenance Code and tighten downtown standards after council discussion about proactive enforcement, administrative fines and resources for code officers.
City staff will return with an ordinance to update the Reno Municipal Code to the 2024 International Property Maintenance Code after a lengthy council discussion about enforcement capacity and downtown blight.
Lance Farratto, director of licensing and code enforcement, recommended that council direct staff to amend RMC Chapter 14.05 to reference the 2024 IPMC and to fine-tune the “downtown standards” adopted in 2014. "The international property maintenance code ... sets minimum standards for maintaining existing structures," Farratto said, explaining the code addresses lighting, sanitation, heating, fire safety and vacant-building standards and that the downtown exhibit provides additional, tighter standards for that area.
Councilmembers applauded the presentation but pressed staff on implementation: How many proactive cases does the department handle, what are daily-fine options, and how are hearing-officer appeals administered? Farratto said code enforcement handled about 3,700 cases last fiscal year with roughly 500 proactive cases, and that the municipal code allows daily administrative fines (capped) when appropriate. He and other staff warned that staffing limits constrain daily enforcement but that existing municipal code and RDA tools could be deployed more aggressively if council directs it.
Council then voted unanimously to direct staff to return with an ordinance introducing the 2024 IPMC to city code, with regional and local modifications and a downtown supplement for clearer facades, signage, vacant-building boarding and nuisance standards. Councilmembers asked staff to return with concrete enforcement options, clear timelines, and language describing the appeals process and council oversight of hearing-officer decisions.
Staff said any change would be presented as a draft ordinance with the downtown standards attached and would include implementation details and, if requested, proposed adjustments to administrative fine administration.
Next steps: staff will prepare an ordinance draft and return to council for introduction and later adoption; councilmembers signaled interest in stronger downtown enforcement, more proactive inspections and potential coordination with the RDA for enforcement support or resources.
