All right.

Well, I would like to call to order the May 11th, twenty twenty-six workshop with the city of Greenville.

Mayor Conley can be here tonight, so I'm Mayor Pro Tempton Foreman and will be presiding over tonight's workshop.

I will do.

Councilmember Scully.

Here.

Councilmember Robinson.

Councilmember Willis.

Here.

We will now move on to the approval of the agenda.

The first item on our agenda under new business is a code enforcement update.

This code enforcement has had a lot of conversation over the last couple of months with concerns to some minimal housing standard issues that we've had, both at multifamily developments as well as some of our housing developments.

But I think that the real light started to shine last October when on a on a Sunday afternoon, Mayor Pro Tim called me of about some issues that we were having in a multifamily development.

And when we we got involved and the chief building inspector got involved with the code enforced department, and we found that basically the living conditions were quite bad.

And then we started to dig a little bit deeper into the um into the status of code enforcement within the city and how proactive that uh we have been or lack of proactive proaction that we've had with the city.

And uh since this time we have uh basically had an overhaul of department, and what we're in the process of doing as a city is to create a new culture within uh code enforcement.

And what we'd like to do is tonight is to spend some time with you talking about the an overview not only of code enforcement but the direction that we're going and a lot of the work being spearheaded by the mayor pro Tim and uh and um council member Hardy to look at specific areas of our of our community so we know that we have issues, and I will say that uh as much as we'd like to think that this could be fixed overnight.

It's not going to be.

This is a a process where we have to have procedures in place, we have to have comprehensive change, and we got to be much more proactive.

But we are committed as a staff to making sure we are moving in the right direction, and I like to say it is a new day, and I think you'll be seeing that over the next several months and years as we continue to uh and and um accentuate what we're doing within code enforcement.

So, with that being said, I would like to now turn it over to the director of community and development services, Tiana Behrman for the presentation.

All right, getting the council, his presentation um provides an overview of the city's code enforcement division, uh, the legal framework we will operate under, current trends we're seeing related to public nuisance, minimum housing, and a proposed action plan focused on proactive enforcement, outreach, and stronger case management.

There we go.

All right, um, so tonight's discussion is organized into two primary sections.

The first um is an overview of code enforcement, the code enforcement division, including including minimum housing, public nuisance enforcement, and the tools available to staff.

And the second, um I'll discuss a proposed action plan focused on proactive and consistent enforcement, outreach and engagement, and improved case management practices.

Um code enforcement contributes to several city council goals and priorities, including enhancing safety, wellness, and environmental responsibility, building and thriving, um building a thriving and attractive community by creating meaningful access to affordable, habitable, and quality housing, uh making Grainville a destination community and place for all to call home and enhancing community engagement as part of the city's organizational realignment effective January 1st of this year.

Code enforcement and building inspections now operate under the same departmental structure.

This alignment creates stronger coordination between inspections and enforcement functions, particularly for minimum housing involving structural, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical concerns.

Our goal is to improve efficiency, communication, and response time while ensuring residents receive clear and timely information.

Um this slide reflects the current organizational structure for the division.

Code enforcement operates within community development services under the assistant director, um, Mr.

William Mills.

Um the structure uh includes one supervisor, nine code enforcement officers, um, working collaborative collaboratively with building inspections.

Um code enforcement currently has eight full-time officers, one part-time officer, um, two of these full-time positions are vacant, and we have two new hires.

Okay, the division is responsible for enforcing both state statutes and local ordinances related to minimum housing, public nuisance, and junk and abandoned vehicles.

In addition to enforcement, staff plays uh an important role in neighborhood stabilization efforts through community connection, education, and coordination with residents and property owners.

This chart illustrates the division's overall case distribution for this calendar year.

So January through I believe yesterday.

The majority of the cases involve trash and debris complaints followed by overgrown vegetation and grass violations.

Minimum housing cases represent a smaller percentage numerically, but are often more significant, are often significantly more complex and time intensive due to legal requirements, inspections, hearings, and compliance monitoring.

So the trash and debris is in blue, grass and weeded lots is red, minimum housing is green, and junk vehicles is purple.

If you can't see that clearly.

Effective code enforcement requires shared responsibility.

Property owners are responsible for maintaining safe and compliant properties.

Tenants also have the responsibilities related to cleanliness, access, and reporting issues, reporting issues appropriately.

City staff manages inspections, enforcement, outreach case coordination, and council's role includes formal action of unsafe properties when necessary.

However, additional tools include notice of violation, civil penalties, liens, list pendants filings, nuisance abatement, demolition authority, and chronic violator designations when necessary.

Okay, so the next two slides actually summarize the statutory and local ordinance authority that allows the city to address nuisance conditions.

This includes authority related to overgrown vegetation, public health nuisance, and junk vehicles under both North Carolina general statutes and the Green World Code of Ordinances.

But this neither are an exhaustive list.

Alright, and here are some examples of common nuisance conditions that staff address regularly, including trash accumulation, junk and inaugural vehicles.

These conditions impact neighborhood appearance, public health, and quality of life, and often generate significant resident complaints.

This slide outlines the standard public nuisance process.

Once a complaint or observation is received, staff conducts inspections, issues notices when necessary, and allows reasonable time for compliance consistent with due process requirements.

If compliance is not achieved, the city may abate the nuisance directly and charge associated costs back to the property owner.

So we're looking at potentially three to four weeks from observation to complaint of observation or complaint to abatement in I would say typically worst case scenario if we cannot achieve voluntary compliance.

These conditions contribute to blight and neighborhood decline, but also present an opportunity to align enforcement efforts with broader revitalization initiatives, including but not limited to the city's 50 and 10 affordable housing strategy.

Alright, so the next couple slides summarize the legal framework governing minimum housing enforcement.

State law and local ordinances establish minimum standards intended to protect life health and safety.