County Manager Mark Schwartz said he has noticed more residents calling code enforcement with complaints about their neighbors.
At a County Board work session Tuesday with the staff, which enforces the county鈥檚 noise ordinance, maintenance code and other regulations, Schwartz said that anecdotally, people call to complain as they are unaware of other ways to resolve their issues.
Schwartz said that too often, code enforcement is used as a 鈥渃udgel鈥� by some residents unwilling to take their complaints directly to their neighbors. He聽said that the county must step up to help resolve disputes in a better way.
鈥淭here may be room for a more mediation, community relations approach by us as a county and civic associations,鈥� Schwartz said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a void there in the community.鈥�
Schwartz鈥檚 pronouncement came after County Board member Christian Dorsey asked about the extent to which the county鈥檚 bureaucracy is used to 鈥渓itigate personal disputes or issues that are better suited to other realms than the power of the state to enforce things.鈥�
It also comes hot on the heels of the Westover Beer Garden鈥檚 continued disputes with the county over its outdoor seating and live entertainment. In 2010, the county stopped music there altogether because of complaints from , and is now considering a law change so it can add .
But the county鈥檚 code enforcement staff said they may have some solutions to help ease the problem, including educating the community on what the department does and what it can help with.
Code enforcement chief Gary Greene said the department has continued to engage in community outreach like attending civic association meetings voluntarily.
Dorsey went further and suggested code enforcement lead 鈥渃leanup days鈥� for some of the topics that receive the most complaints, including and overgrown plants and vegetation that obstruct sidewalks and streets.
He said the time is right for 鈥渢hose sorts of things that are causing better outcomes in our community, so that we get the sense that code enforcement isn鈥檛 the state putting its thumb on the scale.鈥�
Board members seemed impressed by the new initiatives for code enforcement.
鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 thought of code enforcement as a way to build community, but now I do,鈥� said Board member Libby Garvey.
Brooke Giles contributed reporting.
