Middletown code enforcement sweep leaves neighborhood frustrated
A code enforcement sweep has already begun in Middletown.
The city will be going building-to-building and looking for property and nuisance violations.
The code specialists will be districting off Middletown to make sure they inspect every building from the outside.
This includes everything from sidewalk and driveway violations to overgrown grass, weeds, litter, and garbage.
It's the latest effort in Middletown to the beautification of the city and making Middletown a better place to live, work and play.
The way the city notifies the homeowner about the violation is through a bright orange ticket.
Neighbor Mary Bailey's gotten a few of these recently.
"It's embarrassing when you get these on your porch, Bailey said. "Knock on my door like, 'Hey, if you don't have this cleaned up in so many days, you're getting tagged. Then you have to pay a fine.' That's the way I feel."
And she's aggravated about it.
"They're saying it's overrun with brush," Bailey said. "Where? Can you see it? Because I don't. I don't know what they're talking about."
She's been notified that her property is not up to code.
"It's at times that mine [her lawn] will be way less than this, and I'll be tagged," Bailey said. "And I'm like, really? I just had did the yard."
Middletown is rolling out this code enforcement sweep like never before.
"It really is something that we hear about a lot of. "You guys really need to clean up the city." How are we going to do that? And we think this is the perfect initiative to really start that clean-up process," Clayton Castle said.
Castle is the Middletown communications manager. He and the city are just trying to help neighbors the best they can.
If you get tagged and can't afford to fix up your property, Middletown has a grant you can apply to that will cover some parts of the cost.
"The Home Improvement Repair Program actually through the city of Middletown. It's a direct grant program that can offer up to $8,500 for home repairs."
Bailey is just asking the city to cut her and her neighborhood some slack.
"It don't get too bad, though," Bailey said. "It's not even I could see if it was overrun, but it's not. But they act like it's a big deal, and I'll get to it. I will."
The general rule of thumb for this sweep is that a code specialist can go where a UPS or Amazon delivery person can go.
If you get a violation, the grace period is as follows:
- Nuisance (tall grass, trees, trash): 7 days
- Zoning (parking on grass, illegal expansion of driveway): 20 days
- Property Maintenance: 30 days