Politics & Government
City Ready to Crackdown On Chronic Nuisances
The New Port Richey City Council approved an ordinance that gives it more power to tackle nuisance properties.
New Port Richey has a new tool for cracking down on problem properties where crime is an issue.
That tool is a chronic nuisance abatement ordinance council members gave final approval to on Tuesday, June 18.
The ordinance identifies properties as chronic public nuisances if they are sites of repeated specific violations of city code or state or federal law over a six-month period. Crimes focused on in the ordinance include sale and possession of drugs, gang activity, prostitution and dealing in stolen property.
People whose properties are found to be a chronic nuisance could face fines. Under the ordinance, the city manager must give a property owner three days notice before bringing a complaint about a nuisance property to a special magistrate. After the magistrate hears the case, he or she could require a person to take action to abate whatever is causing the property to become a nuisance.
This can include ordering a business shut down.
The ordinance states that property owners found to be in violation of the ordinance shall create an action plan for addressing the problems that caused the property to be considered a nuisance. They then submit it to the special magistrate within 15 days of the magistrate’s declaration of the property being declared a nuisance. They must then implement the actions within 45 days.
A property owner found in violation of the ordinance could face fines of as much as $500 per day. A special magistrate’s decisions could also result in a lien against some properties.
City Council members have been saying for a while that they want to consider such an ordinance. Councilwoman Judy DeBella Thomas floated the idea of the city adopting a chronic nuisance ordinance back in February, and Jeff Starkey, who came onto the council in April, made it a focus of his campaign for a council seat.
This was the second of two votes needed to pass the ordinance, which was originally just called a nuisance abatement ordinance. The first vote was June 4.
Do you think this nuisance abatement ordinance will help fight crime in the city?
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