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Changes satisfy ACORN

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



SPRINGFIELD After an often contentious meeting on Tuesday in City Hall, Hina Sheikh, the organizer for the Springfield chapter of ACORN, said the members of the social action and fair housing group were pleased with the changes made to an anti-litter ordinance.

Twenty-one residents attended the meeting organized by City Councilors James Ferrera and Bruce Stebbins. Assistant City Solicitor Michael Mulcahy and Carl Deitz, the head of the city's Code Enforcement Office, also attended.

At issue was amending an existing city ordinance concerning how the city would respond to litter and over-growth. In a previous draft, the ordinance would have allowed city personnel to go onto privately owned property to clean up litter or cut over-growth without the permission of the property owners.

ACORN had protested this version at a rally the previous week, where Ferrera said that version of the ordinance was un-Constitutional. ACORN members also protested the fee structure in the ordinance of $300 for a violation saying working class homeowners should be exempt from such an amount. ACORN also wanted owners of apartment buildings and vacant lots to be targeted rather than low-income homeowners.

At the May 6 meeting, Mulcahy pointed out the change in language. Now, the ordinance reads that city officials can only come onto property if they have the permission of the landowner or a court order.

"We're not creating new law," Mulcahy said of the ordinance. "We're not encroaching on anyone's rights."

The language on fees, which reads "up to $300" was not altered.

ACORN members brought up issues over whether or not code enforcement inspectors properly identify themselves and whether proper notice for violations is observed. One man held up his order to appear in court over a violation that he said was his first written notice about a problem on his property.

ACORN members expressed concern over a clause in the ordinance that stipulated the city would take action if the cited problem were not addressed after five days of the property owner receiving the notice. Deitz and Stebbins both explained the five-day time limit will give the city the ability to act quickly on serious sanitation issues. If a property owner opted to force the city to obtain a court order for a clean up that order could take weeks to process.

Deitz said that his department attempts to find timelines and solutions that are amenable to both the city and the property owner in many cases.

Mulcahy said language could be added to further explain the issue of obtaining a court order.

Stebbins showed the audience photos of vacant lots in Springfield that need substantial clean ups as a way to show the motivation for amending the ordinance and the members of the group agreed that everyone is for cleaner neighborhoods.

The ordinance will be going to the City Council for a final vote later this month.