The City Council will be making some decisions on the Clean Premiss Ordinance. Here is an interview with Deputy Marshall Code Enforcement Officer John Morgan.
The city of Harrison is authorized by state law 14-54-901 to create a clean premises ordinance. The purpose for the ordinance is public safety, to prevent environmental pollution and litter. The new proposed ordinance is more in-depth with terminology and more defined, but much like the current ordinance, it covers a wide range of topics which could be a public safety issue and environmental pollution. From unsafe houses and buildings which are falling in or inhabitable, tall grass or piles of trash which create breeding grounds and refuge for pests such as cockroaches, rats, and snakes, or stagnant bodies of water that can become a cesspool for mosquitoes, which all can carry diseases or be deadly to a person, inoperable vehicles which sit on a property leaking fuel or oils, which contaminate the soil entering into the waterways, and can also be a harborage for pests. The new proposed ordinance also covers noise which the city did not have a noise ordinance before the one passed for Crypto Mining. But in the proposed ordinance, it would make any unreasonable or unauthorized noise a nuisance. To better explain the ordinance is to read the intent section of the ordinance, which more or less defines the entire document.
“Intent. It is the intent of this Code to prevent and abate nuisances within the municipal boundaries of the City of Harrison. For the purposes of this Code, the word "nuisance" is defined as any act, omission, or property condition that is detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the public in that it:
(A) Injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health or safety of others;
(B) Is offensive to the senses;
(C) Unlawfully interferes with, obstructs or tends to obstruct, or renders dangerous for passage
any public or private street, highway, sidewalk, stream, ditch or drainage;
(D) In any way renders other persons insecure in life or the use of property; or
(E) Essentially interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property, or tends to
depreciate the value of the property of others.”
Those who live in a residential area don’t want live next to a house or building that is falling in and could cause damage to their property or have to walk out the door to an unpleasant odor all because their neighbor piles trash in their back yard, or their children being bitten by a snake because of the trash or tall grass, or for them to have cockroaches in their house because of the unsanitary conditions of their neighbor.
The City of Harrison has had a Clean Premises Ordinance on the books for many years.
Morgan said, “The department and the prosecuting attorney have recently spent several months updating the ordinance to be more understandable and less confusing. As many ordinances have pieced together the current ordinance.”
Mayor Jerry Jackson said his experience began with a group of retired individuals, Friends Helping Friends, who helped clean up many yards. “We cleaned up about 20 yards and discovered when we helped with one house in a neighborhood, the neighbors started cleaning their yards up, too.”
“We are in the process of amending the current ordinance and making some changes. In the past, offenders would often take advantage of the court dates and drag out the process. Now they will get a seven-day notice, and then the city will clean it up and charge the offender.”
With Jackson’s background in Real Estate, he sees the harm an unsightly yard brings to the value of the whole neighborhood. Morgan’s background in public safety his view is the potential harm violations could bring to residents while trying to respect a person's liberties.
“Tallgrass, trash, and junk vehicles all attract rodents and sickness we are trying to avoid. unsanitary conditions caused the Black Plaque, and I’m more concerned about the health issues to the public than the appearance,” Morgan said.
Morgan said they have tried to re-vision the ordinance and fashion it after other cities of the same size.
“For example, the current ordinance defines an inoperable vehicle as one which hadn’t been used and has been parked for 14 days and has five other possible stipulations. “That doesn’t consider a camper, an RV, or a boat which might be a seasonal vehicle. In the new ordinance, we are proposing to remove the used within 14 days and add the definition of an inoperable vehicle as being one that is wrecked, abandoned, in a state of disrepair, incapable of being moved under its owner's power, unlicensed and uninsured. As long as it does not fall under the definition, then it is perfectly legal to be stored on the property.” “We also have some residents who leave their trash cans out by the road all the time. The containers fall into the street, which can damage a vehicle or the trash can if struck by a vehicle,” Morgan said. The current ordinance states trash and recycling receptacles can be stored no further than two feet from the house. With the new ordinance, it is less stringent by removing the two-foot rule, allowing the trash can to be placed at any distance from the house as long as it is not on the side of the house facing a street.” Offending residents will receive a warning and have seven days to mow and remove trash and fourteen days to remove inoperable vehicles. “Both current and proposed, if public works have to clean up a yard, the resident and or property owner can be issued a citation and have to appear in District Court. Morgan said the new ordinance presented to City Council has a scale for fines as the old ordinance just stated up to $1,000. Depending on the number of convictions, fines will start at $125 and double for each new conviction up to $1,000. With no actual scale currently, it is difficult to be fair with a new offender who may receive a different fine than someone else. When the City Council has approved the new ordinance, it will be posted on the city’s website. he said. Citizens can use the TextMyGov feature (870-280-2266) to report a nuisance yard or call City Hall at 870-741-2525.
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