(7/30) During Carroll Valley’s July 10 Borough Council meeting, Borough Manager Dave Hazlett proposed setting stricter property maintenance regulations for residents of the Borough.

As mentioned by Hazlett, Borough staff was inundated with numerous complaints throughout the past few months concerning how properties throughout the Borough are kept. Complaints received included concerns over trash and unsightly "junk" outside homes, dilapidated vehicles and length of grass and weeds on a property. Hazlett informed the Council that Carroll Valley currently has one of the most relaxed property maintenance codes he has witnessed in his professional career. Many other communities in the area have "dangerous building ordinances" for homes or structures falling into disrepair, regulating what is unfit and what needs fixed. Carroll Valley has nothing even similar to these ordinances. There aren’t even regulations to specify how many vehicles can be located on a property, even unsightly ones.

Additionally, with the code that is currently in place, with its limited regulations, Borough staff have their hands tied if/when trying to address residents’ complaints. "The Borough can only currently have someone cut their grass and pick up a bag of trash – that’s all they’re really permitted to do under the current code," stated Hazlett. Considering this has been an ongoing issue for years, he recommended the Council consider establishing more regulations for property maintenance. "We don’t like to issue citations to people," mentioned Hazlett. "We like to reach out first to help them amend the issue." However, a set of regulations still needs to be set in place in order to properly address concerns and take action.

Borough Council President Sarah Skoczen and Vice President Tyler Pyles both agreed that some changes and additions to the ordinance should be made. Skoczen mentioned that anything unkempt that could collect water would be considered a serious health concern for neighbors, because it would create a breeding facility for mosquitoes and other insects. Council member Richard Matthews was also supportive of changes that would create rules to enforce residents to clean up their yards, remove derelict vehicles and trash as well as anything else that would be considered detrimental to the overall aesthetics of the Borough. Matthews also asked why this topic hasn’t been addressed before if it’s been an ongoing issue. Hazlett said that this is the first time he has been in front of a group of Carroll Valley Council members that have supported the addition of more regulations.

Borough staff recommended that Council look at this item and make some recommendations to move forward. Enforcing rules pertaining to standing water, vehicles, grass, trash etc. would be a step in the right direction. As Hazlett noted, he would like to make the code as black and white as possible. Allowing decisions to be made at the discretion of zoning officers or staff could prove to be tricky.

Hazlett was asked to send Council members a list of complaints received thus far so they could assess them and compile a list of recommended regulations to present at a future meeting.