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St. Joseph County code enforcement starts April 1

WVPE News

Earlier this month, St. Joseph County officials created a new code enforcement division for unincorporated parts of the county — and enforcement begins this Friday.

Beginning April 1, county residents can report overgrown yards, abandoned cars, scrap metal and other junk to the county’s new code enforcement officers.

“You don’t want to be living by a house that’s full of cars, junk, trash, garbage, all that type of stuff,” Commissioner Derek Dieter said Thursday. “Now, we finally have something in place to answer the complaints that the citizens have given to us.”

The county’s three ordinances cover weeds and rank vegetation, abandoned vehicles and “public nuisances.”

There are some exceptions — neighbors can’t report compost piles or wood piles in backyards, for example. Actively maintained and cultivated landscaping, agriculture, natural wooded areas, rain gardens, pollinators and other native plant gardens are also allowed.

The county’s 2022 budget set aside just under $330,000 to pay for operating expenses and hire two new full-time code enforcement officers — Steve Szaday and Savhana Pletcher.

Szaday said his and Pletcher’s enforcement will be complaint-driven — they won’t be driving around looking for violations. He said they would also work with property owners to address problems before levying fines or starting cleanup.

“If someone comes forward and says, ‘Hey, I know there’s a mess. I know these things need to be cleaned up. Give me enough time to do that,’ — by all means,” Szaday said. “We’ll come to an arrangement. Say you need two weeks — we’ll come back in two weeks.”

Szaday said he and Pletcher are currently working through a backlog of over 200 complaints.

Upon receiving a complaint, the county will issue a “hang tag” with code enforcement’s contact information. If there’s no reply, the county will issue an official notice of violation. Repeated violations can result in fines up to $500, plus the cost of cleanup or abatement.

The county has an online FAQ page with more information about what constitutes a violation.

Anyone who wants to report a property for code violations can call the department of infrastructure, planning and growth, or use the county’s online form.

“At the end of the day, it’s a quality-of-life issue in St. Joseph County,” Council President Rafael Morton said. “This has been long overdue.”

Contact Gemma at gdicarlo@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @gemma_dicarlo.

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Gemma DiCarlo came to Indiana by way of Athens, Georgia. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2020 with a degree in Journalism and certificates in New Media and Sustainability. She has radio experience from her time as associate producer of Athens News Matters, the flagship public affairs program at WUGA-FM.