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Porter Court residents press township to abate overgrown lots; officials point to bonding and legal steps
Summary
Residents from Porter Court told the township the uncut lots adjacent to their homes create fire, health and pest hazards and accused the township of improperly shifting maintenance duties onto homeowners; officials said they will issue final notices, pursue bond and lien remedies where authorized and follow the established code enforcement and bond procedures.
Residents at Porter Court urged the Lacy Township Committee to use municipal abatement powers to clear uncut, overgrown lots they say the developer has neglected and to stop attempting to shift the maintenance burden onto homeowners.
Pamela Dixon Keune described multiple notices from the township attorney and told the committee she had consulted lawyers who concluded the township’s apparent demand that homeowners maintain developer land was legally unfounded. Keune asked the township to use code‑enforcement abatement powers under cited township code sections and to dispatch municipal crews immediately rather than requiring neighbors to perform work on land they do not own.
Committee members acknowledged the residents’ frustration and described the constraints of the municipal process. Officials said code enforcement had issued notices, the bonding company is being called to complete unfinished public improvements where appropriate, and staff would issue a final notice that would place the item on a public‑works work order if property owners fail to act. The administration said that if the bonding company or builder fails to finish required public improvements, the township will pursue the bond and, if necessary, litigation against the bonding company and builder.
Multiple residents said they had been told by code enforcement to perform the maintenance themselves; staff said that was not standard practice and that a final notice would prompt the township’s next steps, which could include charging the property owner and placing a lien. Officials referenced recent actions taken to cut drainage ditches and said billing and administrative fees for municipal abatement would be assessed per town policy.
The committee did not set an immediate date for municipal crews to clear the adjacent lots but stated it would move forward with final notices, work orders and the bond‑calling process as appropriate. Residents asked the committee to ensure the work will occur within weeks rather than months.
The dispute involves property owned by Calico Properties, and residents say the developer failed to form an HOA or complete required improvements; the township said those matters are being tracked via code enforcement, bonding and punch‑list procedures.
