Athmar Park

Efforts Made to Improve Code Compliance - NIS Changes

Mar 02, 2005

by Karen Cuthbertson
In 2004, Neighborhood Inspection Services (NIS) implemented Administrative Citations; a tool that enables NIS to expeditiously levy monetary fines and property liens against repeat offenders who fail to correct violations.

NIS compared compliance rates in 2003 (pre-monetary fines) to 2004 (postadministrative citations) with the following results:
- Orders To Comply resulted in 30% compliance in 45 days in 2003
- Orders To Comply resulted in 90% compliance in 25 days in 2004 (data through July 2004)

In other NIS news, there are several changes for 2005, including:

?? From June - August 2005, NIS is starting a rotating work schedule that has Inspectors working 4 Saturdays during that time period to help catch those who wait until the weekend to flaunt the rules because they think they can get away with it.

?? Also in 2005, NIS will start proactive enforcement of weeds and snow removal on major arterials and of unsafe buildings near schools/daycare/rec centers.

?? Also in 2005, administrative citations will be issued to repeat offenders after 2 regular citations have been issued. NIS has found that the threat/issuance of monetary fines (including liens against property, in some cases) has been a wonderful compliance incentive to those offenders who have been playing the system and think they can continue to do so.

?? NIS is expanding their complaint-line hours, to 7am - 4pm Monday - Friday.

NIS personnel are spreading the word about adhering to zoning code on Spanish-language radio stations and Inspectors have been authorized to start attending neighborhood meetings again.

And then some really good news:

A task force will be formed in February 2005 to analyze and suggest specific changes to both the NIS process and current ordinances. The task force will look at NIS clerical, personnel management, information handling, and legal process stumbling blocks. Also the task force will analyze the ordinances for out-of-date (e.g., #cars parking on the street per house, #people per sq feet in a house, etc), weak, or unenforceable verbiage and will make specific language change recommendations.

Per the city attorney, all the applicable ordinances can be changed if 7 council members vote to approve the change, so the results of this task force could have a real effect on livability in our neighborhoods. Folks from across the city are going to be on this task force, and there will be some assistance from applicable city personnel. THE TASK FORCE NEEDS YOU! If you have ideas for change and would like to volunteer (1 night/month for 4 or 5 months), please contact Karen Cuthbertson 303-936-9206 (AthmarPark@ecentral.com) or Julius Zsako at 720-865-2969 (Julius.Zsako @ci.denver.co.us). I hope some of you reading this will take the initiative and get involved in this effort.

?— Editor?’s Note: NIS is complaint based. That means nothing will happen to bring a problem property into code compliance unless someone brings that property to the City?’s attention. Complaints may be made anonymously at 720-865-3200.