What is happening to our towns? What a shame.

[PannyAnny]

Just wanted people to see what a little power in the wrong hands can do. Coleman Adopts Residential Housing Code Ordinance

At their regular monthly meeting Monday, March 6, Coleman Village Board adopted without dissent a "Minimum Housing Code" ordinance which regulates maintenance of all residential buildings, inside and out, as well as yard maintenance. Trustee Rex Sager was absent. All other board members voted in favor.

The new ordinance regulates interior and exterior conditions of private single family homes as well as rental units.

No one spoke for or against the proposed vacation of John Street north of Cedar Street at a 6:30 p.m. public hearing that preceded the 7 p.m. board meeting, and the vacation was subsequently approved without opposition.

The new housing code ordinance went into effect after passage and publication, so it is now village law. It requires proper drainage, mandates that yards be kept free from noxious weeds and requires all exterior property areas to be "properly maintained in a clean and sanitary condition." It specifies that fences and other minor construction, walks, driveways, parking areas and similar paved areas shall be properly maintained "in a safe, sanitary and substantial condition," and that "approved walks shall provide convenient all-weather access to buildings."

Exterior surfaces requiring paint are to be painted and maintained to prevent chipping, cracking or other deterioration and "all paint or other preservative shall be applied in a workmanlike manner."

Yards must be kept clean and owners cannot store appliances, furnaces or other large items or building material not used within 30 days. The ordinance mandates that landscaping, plantings and other decorative surface treatments "shall be installed if necessary and maintained to present an attractive appearance in all court and yard areas". The ordinance requires plantings to be maintained "... so as to enhance the appearance and value of the neighborhood and Village." If not maintained as desired after the village serves notice, the village can have the work done and put the cost as a special charge against the property owner.

The ordinance requires every interior floor, wall and ceiling, including door and window assemblies, "be kept clean and in good repair," and be capable of affording privacy. Window screens and screen doors are required from May 1 to Oct. 1 each year on all windows or doors that can be opened.

The ordinance requires other interior maintenance as well. Hazardous sagging or bulging buildings must be properly repaired. Waterproof and hard surfaces must be provided in spaces subject to moisture. All surface repairs must be completed to closely match the existing surface color and texture. "Floor surfacing shall provide ease of maintenance and durability appropriate or the use of the room."

The ordinance requires foundations, exterior walls, floors and roofs to be "reasonably weather tight, water tight and rodent proof" and kept in proper repair and capable of providing privacy.

All door and window hardware must be installed and maintained in proper working condition. Interior and exterior stairs, porches, etc. must be kept in "proper condition" and "present an attractive appearance".

All plumbing must be properly installed and be "maintained in good working condition, free from defects, leaks, and obstructions."

All supplied facilities, equipment and utilities must be kept functioning properly, and owners of any dwelling or apartment in which a cooking stove or refrigerator are furnished for tenants must keep them in good mechanical working condition, but tenants must keep them clean.

All abandoned fuel oil tanks must be removed from buildings.

No one may dispose of rocks, trees, stumps, waste building material or other debris from land development, building construction, street grading or installation of underground utilities on any land in the village except at approved disposal sites, and land owners may not allow any of those things to accumulate on his land for more than 30 days. All vacant land must be leveled to permit mowing of weeds, and stones, bottles, wires and other debris must be removed.

The ordinance goes on to dictate which duties are responsibilities of owners and which are duties of occupants. Among duties of occupants is keeping "all plumbing fixtures therein in a clean and sanitary condition".

The ordinance gives the Village Building Inspector the right to inspect all residential buildings to determine if they comply with requirements of the ordinance. If any owner or occupant denies entry "into any residential building or portion thereof," the inspector can get inspection warrants from the appropriate court "and inspect any portion therof under the control of a tenant when the tenant has consented."

The ordinance specifies conditions under which a dwelling or dwelling unit can be found unfit for human habitation and sets up condemnation procedures. Among the reasons for condemnation is: "One which, because of its general condition, location, or appearance, is a blighting influence or causes decreasing physical or monetary value of property in the neighborhood." Once condemned a building must be vacated as ordered by the building Inspector. If the Building inspector declares it unreasonable to repair the order must be relayed to the owner and can be referred to the Village Attorney who will start legal proceedings to get it torn down or otherwise removed.

[AlumniClub]

PannyAnny,
Green Bay has a similar ordinance and I must say it has made a world of difference in some areas that have turn a whole neighborhoods into a cleaner environment with brand new homes and residents. A lot of the the problems had been also addressed were homes that some residents coined as "slumlord owned properties" and made those landlords fix, repair and clean up property that had greatly affected other residents values and home property values.

I do not believe there is any reason if you live in a residential setting in a city, town, subdivision, village or project neighborhood that others should have to suffer from general condition or appearance, decreasing physical or monetary value of property in the neighborhood.

I live in the city and have since I was 12. The neighborhood I am in is the neighborhood also where I grew up as a kid. It has changed a lot but the basic concept of a "family" neighborhood still stands.

A such ordinance in your area may change the way visitors and residents think of how wonderful town, city, village ect.. looks at as a neighborhood and not as one or two homes determining the general appearance of the whole neighborhood.

Just my opinion,
RedRaven

[Crys]

This sort of ordinance is standard in many cities and towns and is being adopted in a number of villages too, across the country. You post this saying "What a shame" but I guess I don't see where the problem is. The primary focus of an ordinance like this one is to make landlords take care of their properties instead of leaving leaky roofing and broken water heaters and jacking up their rent because there's a washer/dryer -- even though the washer overflows all the time, has damaged the floor to the point that you can't walk on it and is therefore unusable. The sad fact is that laws like this are necessary.

[MrKhay]

Variations of your criminal element will alot of times occupy the quesionable dwellings,(crack houses). They can spring up anywhere.
Also, there's the vermon factor to consider.

[jaybee]

I belive that ordinances like this do alot of good for communities. There are some bad things as well. Some people in my neighborhood had bought a "fixer upper". They didnt have money to fix the entire house at one time, so they started with the interior. The city was not happy with the exterior of the home and sent warnings , and finally cited these people. Not everyone has the money to make these things happen. Its not cheap to side, or even paint a home. Some people can hardly make there mortgage payment let alone pay to have there house fixed up to meet a city code. Communities should do more to help these people financially if there go to impose such ordinances

[MrKhay]

When municipalities enact such ordinances, there is generally a fund for low interest loans, or perhaps even a "block grant" program. These programs are, most times, funded by the state. Contact your city/village/town clerk for information on assistance for housing upkeep/remodeling.
Brain

[CarGuy]

I realize the idea behind this seems like a great thing to some people. But I am going to spin this a little bit and play devils advocate. What if the government told you that becuase of the general concensus in the area that you had to change the color of your home, becuase your neighbors didn't like it or it didn't "fit" into the normal scheme of the neighborhood?
Doesn't this seem like just another step into the intrusion of civil liberties?
I can understand that when you live in a neighborhood you want to keep a "family atmosphere." or keep the wrong element out. But it can be taken too far, and I think that sometimes people buy up some of the "fixer upper" homes in rural areas that make great vacation areas, Demolish them, build a mansion, than tell all their neighbors what they shoud do with their homes. If this is the same silver cliff area that I am thinking of, this is exactly the thing that is happening. Some of these people have lived there for years, and they are great people. They just don't have the money to put pesticides on their lawns, expensive siding on their homes...anyway you know what I mean. Sometimes things that start out as a good intention...turn ugly. :twisted:

[Watchman]

Originally Posted by SandLmotors

Sometimes things that start out as a good intention...turn ugly. :twisted:

Like the Income Tax, Social Security, Gun Control, etc.

SandLmotors makes a very good point, what if I went to your villages, built a mansion, then demanded you to raise your property to my value. When you couldn't, they would be "uninhabitable", and I could buy them cheap, tear down my manion and own the block.

Mt. Pleasant regulates business building colors. To make it short, the Dairy Queen on Highway 20 in Racine could not afford to conform to these earth-tone color standards. So they were threatened with closing down, rather than having their well-kept building and contributing to the economy.

I see an ordinace as the above as a "short-term" solution, but does not help in the long term. In fact, it is very Socialist to bring the government into or around your private home. There is a point of too much regulation.

Some may speak of landlords and slum lords, when referring to this ordinace, but one should also look at those who are renting. It costs a lot to have a rental property. And, as many homeowners know, it costs a lot to maintain a home. There actually are people who can not afford to keep their homes up. In fact, there are most likely more of those than there are "slum lords". These tenants can not always afford the higher cost it would take to ensure that no paint is chipped, that shubbery is in order, etc, etc. Where would they go?

From personal observation, I have seen that where people are given opportunity to make money, they will increase the standard of their lifestyle. So, I could assume then, that any city, town or village wishing to "upgrade" their property values and general "status" should be willing to ensure there are opportunites for work.

Another point, and yes, I will tread on this very touchy subject, because it shows that style of home, quality of paint and general landscaping do not show what kind of person, someone really is. The folks from Enron had very nice cars and homes, and yet they were ruining people's lives. The overall picture is that the village cares more about how a home looks, than the comfort of the people living in it. And if the village places more on the style of landscaping and quality of paint than on the villagers, it would seem that they village could have a bunch of empty homes and be happy.

Drug dealers are another one; nice cars, nice clothes, nice jewelry and they all pay their rent on time. Most of them will even pay to have their carpet redone, plumbing fixed, etc. They just want to be left alone and to do their business. And yet, this would seem to be preferred activity over having someone who works two jobs to support a family, makes sure his children are well taken care of, pays all his bills on time, but can't keep up with his landscaping or house painting.

See?

[rudedog]

here In kenosha, we have the same type of ordinance. and like everthing else they have justified it by pointing out the extremes that will be effected by the ordinance. but what happens to the normal resident?
well lets see, now were subjected to yearly inspections and fines if things arent exactually the way the city wants them to be. we actually get our garbage cans inspected during pickup... you read that right..... they inspect our garbage cans now...and if they arent the right size, or in a perfect condition, or placed at the curb at the right time, they red tag them and refuse to pick the garbage up till its the way they want it.

so i agree with watchman, these ordinances are actually another means to control how people in the city or town live, and its always by someone elses standards. it only starts with an ordinance that says you have to take the car on blocks out of your front yard.

i lived in Somers Wi for some time, and we saw how this works out there. a new subdivision was built with all $500,000.00 + homes built in it. these people wanted city water from kenosha, so the town made everyone around the subdivision install city water. heres where the problem came in! up till then we were drawing water from wells that were fed by the same aquafer that fed petrafied springs. we had the best well water around, and we had to switch to city water because it wasnt good enough for the rich. then we had to upgrade all the farm houses to meet the standard of a few. this is what that ordinance is all about. letting someone else decide how your going to live.

as far as crackhouses and rental property go, arent there already laws and ordinances that they fall under? how about actually enforcing them?

[CarGuy]

as far as crackhouses and rental property go, arent there already laws and ordinances that they fall under? how about actually enforcing them

I think that you are hitting the "nail" right on the head. This is something that I get real emotional about. I think that we should be policing peoples actions... Not their lifestyles. Communisim at its best baby!!!

[AlumniClub]

I am a firm believer in freedom and see no sense in local government control over neighborhood high standards created by new subdivisions.

I dont like to see community pushed into a higher standard than they moved into many years ago. If you live in the country and building of subdivisions begin...my thought is - MOVE .. I've seen to many friends and family burdened by the standards created by well to do familys moving into farm propertys turned into subdivisions.

I live in a middle class neighborhood and if I was told I had to match standards of the newer homes built within the last year I would move. My home is 100 years old this year and I updated according to the city codes and ordinances.
I do not believe that if my value of home should be dictated be the few slum rental propertys in our area. These homes at one point had many exterior and interior problems besides rental issues. If I pretended my home was 2-3 block west of its current location my value could increase as much as 20%. If remains in its current location, the propertys within 1-9 blocks east of me determine my low home value due to the number of rentals. But since the new ordinance, those propertys have been either torn down, repaired according to the ordinance, turned into homes for the less fortunate, a police community home, or replaced with a new home and property owner.
I must say in my area if you cant meet the city ordinance standards, we have programs and many organizations willing to help paint, repair, fix or rebuild homes for the less fortunate by fellow neighbors.

As for crackhouses and rental property ordinances, they fall into city/state laws way above the the Mayor's Committee for a Cleaner and More Beautiful Green Bay and continually strives to make Green Bay a better place to live and work, but needs the help of all citizens.

Visit http://www.ci.green-bay.wi.us/geninf...tee_index.html
for more information on the Committee for a Cleaner and More Beautiful Green Bay.

[rudedog]

ok, move where?
lets see, if the millionairs move into my neighborhood, can i move into yours?
then you can try to keep up with me. LOL
and since im used to living in a neighborhood thats kept emaculate. you better get a new lawn mower, and garbage cans, and storm doors and...............
i mean i wouldnt want the property values to drop.
oh yeah, if you rebel ill just join the commitee to make sure things are done my way.

see where im going with this?

i find it amusing that they would waste time on a committee to begin with. i lived in green bay for four years. your worst areas dont even come close to being bad enough for a committee.

actually i would love to move back there. i lived there for 4 yrs while in school. but now im afraid the committee would get me!

[AlumniClub]

Originally Posted by rudedog

ok, move where?
lets see, if the millionairs move into my neighborhood, can i move into yours?
then you can try to keep up with me. LOL
and since im used to living in a neighborhood thats kept emaculate. you better get a new lawn mower, and garbage cans, and storm doors and...............
i mean i wouldnt want the property values to drop.
oh yeah, if you rebel ill just join the commitee to make sure things are done my way.

see where im going with this?

i find it amusing that they would waste time on a committee to begin with. i lived in green bay for four years. your worst areas dont even come close to being bad enough for a committee.

actually i would love to move back there. i lived there for 4 yrs while in school. but now im afraid the committee would get me!

Good points.
I am just saying that if I know the neighborhood is going to be redeveloped before it happens, I personally would not stay. As for you moving to Green Bay...It is a very nice city! Many houses for sale in my area and for a fair price. We do have problems as every town, village, city has but a lot of the 'good' changes have come from the ordinances created to curb business owners & landlords from poor home management.
Yes, we have a committee for one good reason...to provide a clean environment for its residents to work, live and play