WRIGHTSVILLE — An 84-year-old Wrightsville resident told Borough Council on Monday night that she has been complaining about overgrown yards next door for six years, and she’s tired of waiting.
“Don’t give me a thing that you’re going to take time to do this,” she said. “I’m 84 years old. I like to see my yard looking so nice.”
She said one neighbor’s weeds drew so many bees that another neighbor, who was ill, couldn’t sit in her own yard. Now, she said, weeds four to five feet high and piles of stone and trash sit next to a neighbor who just paid thousands of dollars for landscaping.
She remembered a simpler time, when the borough cleaned up a messy yard and sent the owner a $500 bill. “Why can’t we go back to something like that?” she asked.
Why it takes so long
The borough’s solicitor explained that state law ties council’s hands. Under the property maintenance code the borough follows, owners must get a written notice and a deadline to fix the problem first. That’s at least 10 days, and usually 15 to 30.
Only after the deadline passes can the borough do the work itself and bill the owner. If the borough skips the letter, it can’t recover its costs.
And with grass and weeds, the clock keeps resetting. Many owners wait until the last day, mow, and the case closes. When the weeds grow back, it’s a brand-new violation.
Fines aren’t much of a hammer either, he said. The borough can ask for up to $1,000 a day, but local judges usually impose $50 to $100, must allow payment plans as low as $5 a month, and most of the money goes to court fees.
The borough once cleaned up a yard for a resident, he added, but that person came to expect it and began asking the borough to do her yard work.
A record number of complaints
Council members said the borough’s complaint list is the longest they’ve ever seen: tall weeds and grass, rubbish, unpermitted structures and cars parked in yards.
The mayor has started leaving green door hangers at problem properties. A council member said residents who get one have 10 days to fix the problem before getting a formal violation notice and a possible fine. In one block alone, more than six hangers went out.
“If you get a green door hanger… it is legitimate,” a council member said. “This isn’t somebody faking something.”
Residents who want to report a problem must fill out a paper complaint form at the borough office. Phone calls to council members don’t count. An online form is in the works.
What about rentals?
Another resident pointed to run-down rental houses on the 400 block of Walnut Street. He noted that Columbia, across the river, inspects rental properties.
Council members said Wrightsville has no plans to start a rental inspection program. A council member said the last estimate was $15,000 to $20,000, which would ultimately come out of taxpayers’ pockets. The solicitor added that tenants can still invite the code officer in to inspect, though they may fear losing their lease if they complain.
