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City attorney outlines nuisance-abatement ordinance to target repeat crime-linked properties
Summary
A proposed nuisance-abatement ordinance under chapter 893 would let the police and special magistrate label properties chronic nuisances after two documented criminal offenses within six months, enabling fines, orders and other remedies; city attorney said the tool is modeled on ordinances used elsewhere in Palm Beach County.
City attorney Shauna Lamb told the commission the proposed nuisance-abatement ordinance would create a police-enforced mechanism under chapter 893 to address properties tied to repeated criminal activity. "Chapter 893 allows cities the ability to do this," Lamb said, and described the process: properties with documented repeated offenses (for example, drug buys, prostitution, gang-related felony activity) may be labeled chronic nuisances, owners can be offered voluntary compliance (often landlords who then evict problematic tenants), and noncompliant properties can be brought before a special magistrate who may impose fines and orders.
Lamb said the ordinance reduces the prior threshold (which required two offenses in 30 days) to two documented violations within a six-month period, and that violations need police documentation such as arrests, undercover buys or search warrants; convictions are not required. She added the ordinance applies to residential and commercial properties, including short-term rentals and hotels, when criminal activity is occurring on the property.
Commissioners raised whether similar ordinances have produced litigation. Lamb and another city lawyer noted a prior magistrate action had been handled in the citys code-enforcement process and, as presented in the agenda review, there was no active civil lawsuit unless a magistrate order were appealed. Lamb said her offices litigators handled the earlier case and staff believe the new ordinance addresses prior enforcement gaps.
Why it matters: the ordinance aims to provide a targeted tool to address properties that are repeatedly the site of felony-level activity and to give the police and code enforcement an enforceable path to protect neighborhoods without requiring criminal convictions.
Next steps: staff will prepare a PowerPoint and additional materials for the full commission meeting where the ordinance will be considered as part of the agenda.
