Code Compliance Department Quarterly Update Brandon S. Bennett Code Compliance Director September 15, 2009

22 City Council Updates

33 Wildlife in Fort Worth Typical Wildlife Complaints: o Exposure to small animals (bats, skunks, etc.) o Coyote exposure/sightings. o Feral hogs digging up landscaping and sightings. o Bobcat sightings. o Cougar sightings. o Alligator sightings. Typical Reporting and Response: o Coyotes, feral hogs, bats, etc: Animal Control will investigate public health and safety risks. o Cougar, alligator, bobcat and other large wildlife are investigated by Texas Parks and Wildlife. o Wildlife Emergencies: 911.

44 Partially Developed Subdivisions Approximately 34 subdivisions are in varying levels of completion.

55 Partially Developed Subdivisions Staff from Planning and Development, Environmental Management and Code Compliance are monitoring the status/taking appropriate action. Most subdivisions are solvent, but building has slowed or stopped because of the economy. Where subdivisions are solvent, some lots are owned by insolvent builders. Bankruptcy and other legal proceedings moving faster than the downturn in the 1980’s. Trustees and lenders are being more responsive to protecting assets in limbo. Tall grass, litter and other nuisance violations account for the majority of citizen complaints. The abatement of such nuisances is not impacted by ownership/solvency issues.

66 Front Yard Parking Enforcement: Parking Citation. Owner of the vehicle is responsible. Towing not an available option under the current ordinance. The Police Department and Code Compliance provide enforcement. Approximately 2,700 citations are issued annually. Warnings and parking citations are effective for most violations. Currently, limited alternatives for non-compliance. Staff will develop alternatives for towing vehicles and citing the tenant and/or property owner for non-compliance.

77 Trend Reports

8 Departmental Inspection Trends 8

9 Departmental Inspections Per Officer 9

10 Animal Care and Control Activity Trends 10

11 Code Compliance Violation Trends

12 Current Project Updates

13 General Project Updates Ordinance Updates (Boarded Building, Tires and Parking). Safe Neighborhoods Project: Bomber Heights, Diamond Hill, and Far Greater Northside. Hotel/Motel Inspections. Community Outreach – Mobile Office.

14 Animal Ordinance Update

15 Animal Control Volunteer Project 47 active volunteers and growing each month. Help with adoptions, education, outreach and shelter operations. Will play critical role in future low cost clinics, additional outreach and education. Will supplement staff to avoid closing shelter two days per week (three shelter positions were eliminated for FY 2010).

16 Code Rangers Challenges: Field Operations will be reduced by 14% effective October 1, Lower priority calls will see significant delays in service. Code Ranger notices get about a 70% compliance rate. The other 30% are sent to Code Officers for action. These are all low priority calls. Developing Solutions: Decriminalize minor code violations so that they can be adjudicated similar to parking citations. Use appeal process similar to red light cameras to address these violations.

17 Billing and Collections Developing a notice, billing, appeal and collections program similar to the red light cameras. Concept would use third party contractor to bill inspection fees and re-inspection fees on multi-family inspections. Concept would add front yard parking, commercial vehicle, RV parking and other parking violations. Concept would include civil penalties for uncorrected code violations. Might require future legislative action to fully implement. Currently defining business requirements with vendor and IT Solutions. Will schedule a public meeting on the concept in early December.

Questions and Discussion