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June 12, 2007

City to tighten junk regs

By Karen Middleton

Athens city officials have been the first to acknowledge that the existing weed, junk and nonconforming vehicle ordinances were confusing.

According to City Attorney Shane Black people had to read several contradicting sections or depend on one part of the old ordinance to interpret another part. He said the old ordinance was also repetitive.

“One of the purposes of rewriting this ordinance is to streamline it,” Black said.

The City Council introduced the updated ordinance Monday for action at its June 25 meeting.

“The sections on littering are the same, but some of the penalties have increased to make them similar or substantially the same as the Alabama Code,” Black said Tuesday. “There are more detailed provisions for keeping property free of junk and litter. We have carved out more specific language.”

One of the sticking points with the old ordinance had been downed trees and brush piles.

“This ordinance applies exceptions,” Black said. “Obviously, if a storm comes through you can’t help it you can’t help it if your are cleaning land and put in a brush pile. But you can’t just let it sit there indefinitely, attracting bugs and becoming an eyesore.”

The new ordinance also differentiates between residential and commercial properties when it comes to brush and trees.

“We’ve go the rules, but we also include reasonable exceptions,” Black said.

The city attorney said the new ordinance also clearly deals with fines for each offense very clearly.

“The issue of warnings is also addressed,” he said. “For some offenses a warning is required, but it’s a one-time thing—one per property, per violation. The next time, there’s no warning.”

On the definition of litter versus junk, Black said the new ordinance aims for a common sense approach.

“We attempt to say you can’t have junk at residential and commercial properties, but there are exceptions for commercial properties, such as tractor dealerships and agricultural businesses,” said Black. “Any outside implements must be parked in an orderly fashion and mowed around.”

On the subject of weeds, the limit is 12 inches, but Black said this is where more common sense comes in with exceptions for agricultural properties or corn in a backyard garden.

“In the matter of construction debris, we give the builder a reasonable amount of time to remove them from the property,” he said. “All of these issues we have tried to collect in one place and make them easier to understand.”

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