Fresno wants ‘more teeth’ in code enforcement, new fines for noncompliant properties
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Fresno is building a new fine structure to increase penalties for code violations.
- City Attorney Janz said staff are actively working on updates, expects proposal in months.
- City officials want a new fine structure to deter property owners from noncompliance.
The City of Fresno is r considering enhanced fines in hopes of disincentivizing noncompliant property owners from breaking code enforcement rules.
Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz said in a recent interview that staff are “actively working on building a new fine structure.”
Parts of the city’s current code enforcement fine structure have not been changed in a decade. For example, the current maximum amount for a first citation for code violations is $250 — the same it’s been since July 2016.
That amount “isn’t much in the grand scheme of things,” Janz said.
It’s not yet clear what a new code enforcement fine structure could look like, but Janz described the move as giving “a little more teeth to the law.” City officials are hoping enhanced fines will disincentivize property owners the city has identified as habitual offenders from continuing to violate Fresno’s Municipal Code.
The pending fine structure update is the city’s latest move to bolster the code enforcement in Fresno. In March, the City Council changed local law to allow officers to access open areas of private property that are considered public, such as front porches or driveways, without a warrant for code enforcement purposes.
City officials at the time called it a “common sense” move intended to crack down on property owners who they say have repeatedly violated Fresno’s housing standards and avoided inspections and penalties.
Janz said his office will likely officially propose a code enforcement fine update to the City Council “within a couple of months or so.”
New Fresno code enforcement fines likely to find support on City Council
District 3 City Councilmember Miguel Arias told The Bee a change to the fine structure is “long overdue.”
Though the city only charges noncompliant property owners up to $250 in a first citation for general code violations, it can charge $500 and $1,000 on the second and third citations, respectively.
The fines are higher for violations that carry health and safety risks, ranging from a maximum of $800 on a first citation to $1,600 on a third. The city can also charge abatement fees if it has to clean clutter and debris from a private property.
Instead of focusing on set amounts that would apply to everyone, Arias said he’d like to see a new fine structure allow the city to recover the full amount it spends in a code enforcement case. In some cases, large landlords get away with paying less in fines than what the city spends to enforce the code on them, he said.
“Every property is different,” he said.
City Council President Nelson Esparza said updating the fines is something he will “certainly consider supporting.”
Esparza said that, for repeat offenders, code enforcement violations “should impact their bottom line.”
“It really should serve as a deterrent,” he said of the fine structure. “We have some very large repeat offenders within the city, where this has been a problem for many, many years. Wherever we see an opportunity to adjust and calibrate to be more effective against those violations, we should take that action.”
