Detroit gets new weapon against urban blight - Fines for Neglectful Property Owners
Thursday, January 6, 2005 at 10:57AM
TheSpook
On a block of neat, single-family homes in northwest Detroit, one house
spoils the view. It is charred and rotting with a collapsed porch roof,
and the lawn has been turned into a makeshift dump. The house has been
like this for months -- an eyesore, a hazard to curious children, and a
scene for potential mischief. But neighborhood activists are hopeful
that could soon change. Starting next week, the city will have a new
weapon against blighted properties and the owners who neglect them.
Modeled after a similar program in Chicago, the new Department of
Administrative Hearings is a sort of blight court that takes building
violations and illegal dumping cases out of the overburdened district
court for quicker action. If violators ignore the department's
decisions, there will be consequences: Hearings officers can garnish
their wages, put liens on their property and take other measures to
force them to comply. Officials say the system, which becomes effective
Jan. 1, will be a vast improvement over the old one, in which only a
limited number of violations could be prosecuted and enforcement was
next to impossible. The changes have the support of community activists
and some business circles. But critics worry the system could be used
as a revenue generator with little regard for fairness. [more]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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