Mayor of Ames John Haila is seeking Ames residents to join the Public Nuisance Appeals Board, a city board that will see appeals from residential, industrial and commercial properties following an approved property maintenance ordinance. The ordinance’s new standards include exterior property maintenance issues such as storing garbage and junk in yards, removing debris on.
The Ames City Council revisited the property maintenance code in unanimously approving a draft of ordinances for first reading July 18 that include restrictions on outdoor yard waste storage, vegetation in the right-of-way and unsecured buildings. During the workshop, the council voted against the city staff’s recommendation of a 10-foot sidewalk clearance and voted for.
The Ames City Council gave city staff direction on 19 proposed changes to property maintenance enforcement following public input, which will be reflected in ordinances presented to the council during the June 27 meeting. Ames Fire Chief Rich Higgins said citations for property maintenance violations are not used often. “The goal is not citation,” Higgins.
More than 200 Ames apartment tenants are out of their homes after the city ordered them to leave their units after an inspection found faulty furnaces.