The St. Clair Shores City Council approved changes to multiple ordinances at its meeting on Sept. 3.
By: Alyssa Ochss | St. Clair Shores Sentinel | Published September 23, 2024
ST. CLAIR SHORES — At their meeting on Sept. 3, the St. Clair Shores City Council voted to approve changes to multiple ordinances and fines issued by code enforcement officers for violations.
Community Development & Inspections Director Denise Pike said the previous process allowed for residents to be given a notice of violation, after which they get seven days to fix the problem. The next violation gives them another seven days to correct it.
“Then we prepare a document called the complaint and warrant and we send that to the city attorney who has to authorize it, and then it goes over to the court,” Pike said.
This whole process, Pike said, could take up to 90 days.
The new civil infractions will allow code enforcement officials to write a ticket that comes with a fine. The first two notices are still issued, but after that, tickets can be written.
“And you either have to admit responsibility and pay the ticket or you have to go to the court and ask for that ticket to be in front of a judge,” Pike said.
At court, residents have a chance to explain why they shouldn’t be fined.
“That’s the difference between a misdemeanor and a civil infraction, is that for those ordinances that have a penalty clause, that is a civil infraction,” Pike said. “After you’ve been given sufficient notice, we can write you a ticket that comes with a fine. And we can write that ticket every day if the violation is egregious enough.”
Pike said related violations could be written as a second offense, which would give enforcement officers the ability to write tickets right away. For example, Pike said if a resident goes through the full process a first time and commits the same offense a second time, they can be fined immediately.
The first ticket could be $50, the second ticket could be $250 and the third ticket could be $500, Pike said during the meeting.
She said during the meeting that Councilman John Caron helped a lot with the new changes.
Caron said it is important to have consistency throughout the code.
“If it’s property, maintenance to property, maintenance to the building ought to be the same,” Caron said. “And we believe by doing it that way we can get to compliance faster.”
He also noted that they are not taking away the residents’ rights to dispute a claim.
“But we are looking to get faster enforcement,” Caron said.
He added that this process allows the council and staff to show residents that something is being done about a property or another compliance problem in their neighborhoods.
Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Candice Rusie commended Caron for bringing these issues forward.
“I believe this really does not only increase the procedural efficiency that the city can now act with, but this also I think increases, just like he said, consistency and fairness,” Rusie said.
Around 23 ordinances are included in the update, Pike said. None of the ordinances include offenses where a person causes harm to any living being or property, which would be a much more serious offense than a civil infraction.
“A civil infraction is really intended to get compliance faster,” Pike said.
The city council and staff have worked on this set of changes since November of last year. Pike said the changes were necessary because multiple city offices were backed up by the processes and they had a problem gaining compliance.
“The process (of) going through a complaint and warrant takes a very long time,” Pike said. “The courts were backed up, the city attorney was backed up, you know, our cases were backed up.”
She went on to say that it would take the workload off the city attorney and subsequently, off the court.
“Because not everything will go to court. People will just pay the fine and be done, right?” Pike said. “And then that’s a very easy transaction.”
The changes went into effect on Sept. 5 after the council meeting. Residents experiencing ongoing court cases will likely stay in court, Pike said. If the violation is exacerbated, a civil infraction will be issued.
“Could it potentially impact people? Yes, if your violation still exists,” Pike said.
Pike said the elected officials want to portray the aesthetic and character of St. Clair Shores through its ordinances.
“We often get people who are like, ‘This is my property. I can do whatever I want,’” Pike said. “And the reality of the situation is no, you can’t. This is the way the city fathers, city mothers, city leaders past and present have said this is the way we want our community maintained.”
A list of the affected ordinances can be found attached to the Sept. 3 meeting agenda, on the St. Clair Shores website at scsmi.net or directly on Municode.