By Darren Svan | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – The Bossier City Council moved forward with rule changes that would strengthen property standards enforcement, improve court processes and increase administrative fees against violators.
The Council passed an ordinance on first reading Tuesday that amends Chapter 46, titled “environment,” of the Bossier City Code of Ordinances, and establishes new procedures for the city’s Administrative Court.
The ordinance’s purpose is to “improve quality of life in the city” by updating, amending and expanding Chapter 46, which includes sections like noise, junk and fee schedule rules that deal with nuisances like overgrown weeds, trash, dilapidated buildings and blight.
It increases financial consequences, broadens city leaders’ power to clean up the city, gives more citation authority to Bossier City Police and streamlines enforcement against property owners who chronically violate standards.
The new measures are intended to advance economic development initiatives, according to the ordinance.
“It’s a pretty big update to our current property standards code, and so it has just about everything that we’ve talked about and wanted to see in property standards ,” said Chris Smith, a Bossier City council member. “It addresses how the members of that Administrative Court are replaced, and so this is probably the largest upgrade to this section in quite a while.”
Smith did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment by the time of publication.
The Administrative Court met three times this year. According to a review of their latest meeting, the council dealt with mainly property standards enforcement and condemnation proceedings. Three council members were present: Chris Smith, Cliff Smith and Debra Ross.
The new rules will expand the Administrative Court’s roles and responsibilities, increase fees, strengthen enforcement by allowing the police department to issue citations, improve their ability to hold repeat offenders liable, and expand their authority to collect costs through liens and property taxes, according to The Center Square’s review of the document.
Under the general penalty section, it says, “When processed as a criminal or quasicriminal matter in a court of competent jurisdiction … the violation of any provision of this code is punishable by a fine not exceeding $500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 60 days, or by both, within the discretion of the court.”
One section discusses the city’s ability to hold homeowners accountable who repeatedly violate weed and grass rules.
“If an owner or occupant of fails to cut, destroy, or remove such grass or other matter from the property he owns or occupies or from any abutting sidewalk or, the city shall notify the property owner of its intent to perform such work after 10 days and to charge the property owner for the work in addition to any administrative fee,” the document said.
The ordinance establishes new administrative fees: $250 for property abatements and $250 for each inoperative vehicle. The new fees are in addition to the city’s actual cost of correcting each violation, according to the document.
Police officers are authorized to issue citations when requested by the Bossier City Property Standards Code Enforcement Division.
Bossier City Chief Administrative Officer Shane Cheatham did not return The Center Square’s request for comment.