The town of Walden is talking trash - with ongoing citizen complaints about the unsightly state of certain properties within the town, officials are looking at ways to remedy the situation.
The related ordinance already in place only states that property owners in the town must uphold certain standards. They can't let their grass grow taller than one foot, allow stagnant water to remain or generally allow their property to become a "nuisance," meaning "it shall be unlawful for any person to permit any premises owned, occupied or controlled by him to become or remain in a filthy condition." If the owner refuses to comply they can be fined up to $50 per day until the property is cleaned.
Officials' concern lies in the fact that there is no working process in place to decide whether a house is truly a nuisance or health hazard or simply needs some superficial maintenance, such as cutting the grass or cleaning up trash from the yard. The question remains as to who the authority is in the matter.
"I don't think I am qualified to decide whether or not a house is a nuisance," said Town Recorder Fern Lockhart.
She also pointed out that some of the properties that could be defined as "nuisances" have people living within, making the process more complicated. When contacted about visiting one of the properties, which reportedly has hazardous living conditions on the inside, the Health Department refused to enter. Lockhart said she thinks it is because the county entity feels it is ultimately the city's responsibility.
Walden currently does not have a codes officer or other person responsible or qualified to decide whether a house is a nuisance, nor does the ordinance explicitly deal with a home's interior if the structure is sound and therefore does not pose a hazard to neighbors.
"There needs to be some guidelines where everyone is treated the same for the same type of complaint," Lockhart said. "I don't find anything [in the ordinance] that gives me [as the town recorder] the authority to impose the fine."
Since board members said they do not yet feel they have the authority or expertise required to move forward, Town Attorney Michael Stewart advised the council to go one of two ways: cite the owners of the house in municipal court as violators of the property maintenance ordinance, thus giving the judge authority in the matter, or file with the Chancellery Court of Hamilton County and in doing so gain the authority by right of court order to clean up the house and impose a lien for the cost if the owners refuse.
"If it is something where they run the risk of destroying property, they need to be cautious ... without the backing of a court order," said Stewart.
The possibility remains of the town adopting an ordinance that would give the town the authority to determine action in such situations.