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Council weighs civil abatement and tougher penalties for long-running nuisance properties
Summary
Council members and staff reviewed four long-running nuisance properties, discussed limits of criminal prosecution, and asked city attorney and staff to develop abatement procedures, higher fines and follow-up protections so the city is not left bearing abatement costs.
East Bethel city staff on March 9 outlined options for dealing with four long-running nuisance properties and asked the City Council whether to shift from criminal prosecution to civil abatement for the most persistent cases.
City Administrator (Mr. Look) told the council that enforcement is complaint-driven: staff issues successive letters and citations, and only when those steps fail does the city consider prosecution. "We send out a first letter, second letter, third letter," he said, adding that many properties come into compliance after one or two notices but a handful do not. He described abatement as "the nuclear option" in which the city would hire a contractor to clean a property…
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