The process may begin with either a complaint filed by a resident or business or by City Staff observing a problem through the City's Code Enforcement program. The City has a Code Enforcement Officer whose responsibility is to investigate complaints of property maintenance and Municipal Code violations. The City's Code Enforcement Officer also periodically patrols the City proactively to ensure compliance with the City's property maintenance and Municipal Code provisions. Most often, a code enforcement action is initiated through a complaint filed by a resident or business.
After a complaint is received, an inspection is made to determine the validity, nature, and extent of the concern. If a code violation is observed, the property owner is informed and given an opportunity to bring the property into compliance. If corrective action is not completed in a reasonable manner or time and after repeated attempts on the part of the Code Enforcement Officer to resolve the issue(s) the City may, as a last resort issue an administrative citation or file a criminal complaint with the City Prosecutor's office. However, the primary goal is to resolve the code violation through voluntary compliance and the vast majority of cases are resolved in this manner.