When it comes to people who regularly violate ordinances, Oxford Township is beefing up its enforcement.
‘I’m going to say 98 percent of these violations are cleared up probably by the second notice or by the time they get the letter from the attorney,? said Supervisor Bill Dunn. ‘But we do have certain people that take it right to the end.?
That’s why township officials last week voted 4-2 to uphold the zoning ordinance (#67A) as written and allow the ordinance enforcement officer to use his discretion.
Under the ordinance, the enforcement officer is already empowered to either issue a violation notice (a warning) or a ticket requiring the offender to appear before a judge in Rochester Hills 52-3 District Court.
However, the township had a long-standing policy in place that basically took away the officer’s discretion by requiring the issuance of three written warnings ? each followed by a 10-day period to comply ? before an appearance ticket could be written.
While the practice of giving three warnings is appropriate in some cases, Dunn said there are ordinance violators who take advantage of this lenient policy, which was originally designed to avoid going to court.
‘There are some that drag it out (to three warnings) and they’re called frequent flyers,? he said.
In his memo to the board, Dunn noted there’s a gas station that violates the ordinance every year by selling bags of landscape mulch outside.
‘By the time three notices get out, the sale is over, and then the next year the process starts over again,? he wrote.
If they time things right, some repeat violators can get more than three warnings. ‘The practice has been if the violation is corrected but starts up again at some later point . . . three new notices are given,? according to Dunn’s memo.
After discussing the planning commission’s concerns about such violations with Chairman Don Silvester, who’s running for township trustee, Dunn went to the board to see about ‘putting some teeth? in ordinance enforcement.
With regard to these ‘frequent flyers,? Dunn said, ‘I don’t even want to give them a notice. I want to give them a ticket.?
Some township officials were hesitant about changing the policy, but Silvester reminded them, ‘The procedure’s already there. It’s in the ordinance.?
‘I think allowing the ordinance enforcement officer to have that discretion will get it cleared up quicker,? he said. ‘Let him enforce the ordinance ? that’s all you have to do.?