Chronic Nuisance

There has been much discussion in the local press about the chronic nuisance ordinance that is currently before the Public Safety Committee.  Here is a brief update of the current status of the draft ordinance.

LFUCG currently has a “public nuisance” ordinance on the books that declares any property a “public nuisance” if the residents have been cited for drugs, gambling, or prostitution twice within the last year.  Public nuisance laws are designed to ensure that property owners take responsibility for the activities of the tenants on their property. The current ordinance applies only to residential property and does not include any other criminal activity.

Several people have been working on a new draft of this ordinance for several years, including expanding the ordinance to include commercial as well as residential property.  I particularly want to commend Keith Gaines, a recently retired LFUCG police officer, for his work in this area.  He has spent years researching chronic nuisance ordinances from all over the nation.  He presented a draft ordinance at the Public Safety Committee meeting in October.  After extensive discussion about the ordinance there was agreement that some changes may need to be made, and that it would be important to give the organizations representing landlords time to review the ordinance to determine how it will impact them.  The draft of the proposed ordinance will come back before the Public Safety Committee when those changes are made and all interested parties have had an opportunity for review.