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Council forwards draft to expand property-maintenance rules to commercial lots
Summary
Councilors reviewed proposed Ordinance 227 to add commercial properties to the city's property-maintenance enforcement and exceptions; members asked the city attorney whether the variance process should be in the ordinance or handled by policy and directed staff to send the draft for legal review.
A council member presented proposed amendments labeled Ordinance 227 that would expand the city's property-maintenance enforcement to include commercial properties, add exceptions and set a process for hardship requests.
The presenter said the draft removes the ordinance's prior residential-only language and adds B and C exception clauses. He suggested the council forward the draft to the city attorney to review legal phrasing and to advise on how variance requests should be handled. "I think my feeling is the attorney should look at it and see what they think," the presenter said.
Councilors asked whether the ordinance should define the procedure for requesting an exception, or whether that detail should be left to administrative policy. Members said they preferred clear guidance for residents who may read the ordinance years later and asked staff to include a mechanism to track hardship requests.
The council did not adopt language tonight. Instead, members agreed to send the draft to the city attorney for review and to return with recommended edits and suggested procedures for handling variance or hardship requests.
The matter will return to a future agenda with the attorney's recommendations.
