Peletier schedules public hearing on nuisance ordinance after code-enforcement briefing

The Peletier Town Board voted to hold a public hearing next month on a draft nuisance ordinance designed to create objective criteria for enforcement after a lengthy code-enforcement briefing.

Lieutenant Chris Jensen, the town’s code enforcement officer, gave a run-down of problem properties, repeated notice attempts and a recent citation delivered to a racetrack owner for noise violations. Jensen also reported that the sheriff's office had 80 calls in the area, 59 of which were within town limits, and presented a list of priority addresses needing follow-up. “We’ll see,” Jensen said as he described outreach and enforcement steps he had taken.

Town staff and counsel told the board the draft ordinance is detailed and likely to require legal fine-tuning, additional staff capacity and clarity on whether impact fees could be lawfully imposed. One staff advisor said the town needs objective criteria so the public understands what constitutes a nuisance and so the town can defend enforcement if challenged. The board voted by voice to publish notice and hold a public hearing at the next monthly meeting and to consider voting after the hearing.

The board did not record a roll-call tally in the transcript; votes were taken by verbal 'aye.' The mayor and staff said the public hearing will be published in the local paper and the board expects to vote on the ordinance after that hearing if the draft is ready.