2012 2:00:00 PM

Monday, April 9, 2012 2:00 PM
745 4th Street, Sparks, NV 89431

General Business: 6.5

Title: Consideration, 1st Reading and possible discussion of Bill No. 2643, an Ordinance amending Chapter 7 of the Sparks Municipal Code; amending Section 7.16.010 "Definitions," 7.16.050 "Notice of Violation," and 7.16.060 "Time for Abatement," 7.16.070 "Appeal Procedures," 7.16.100 "Abatement Report Hearing Procedure," to reflect the new procedure for each; and providing other matters properly related thereto.

Petitioner/Presenter: Community Services/Armando Ornelas

Recommendation: Instruct City Clerk to read the bill by title and set the date for the public hearing and second reading.

Financial Impact: No direct impact

Business Impact (Per NRS 237):
A Business Impact Statement is not required because this is not a rule.

Agenda Item Brief: This is the 1st Reading of an ordinance to amend the section 7.16 (“Nuisances”) of the Sparks Municipal Code to enhance the City’s powers to abate nuisances. The changes include adding definitions of “chronic” and “abandoned” nuisances, amending the procedure for the noticing of violations, defining an appeals procedure and adding a provision enabling the City to levy a special assessment against a property to recoup the City's cost of abating a nuisance that the property owner fails to abate.

Background: As the number of defaults and foreclosures has risen, the City has encountered more cases of property owners failing to respond when contacted by the City’s code enforcement officer. Some of these properties present an immediate hazard to public safety and welfare. Others represent chronic nuisances that demand a disproportionate amount of the City’s single code enforcement officer’s time; in other cases the property has effectively been abandoned or the legal owner is unreachable and/or unresponsive. Such properties may not only pose a public danger or are unsightly but are detrimental to the neighborhoods in which they are located. Given these circumstances, City staff are proposing to amend Chapter 7.16 of the Sparks Municipal Code to improve the code enforcement “toolbox.”

Analysis: This is the 1st Reading of an ordinance to amend the section 7.16 (“Nuisances”) of the Sparks Municipal Code to enhance the City’s powers to abate nuisances. The changes This is the 1st Reading of an ordinance to amend section 7.16 (“Nuisances”) of the Sparks Municipal Code to enhance the City’s powers to abate nuisances. The changes include providing definitions of chronic and abandoned nuisances, amending the procedure for the noticing of violations, defining an appeals procedure and adding a provision enabling the City to levy a special assessment against a property to recoup the City's cost of abating a nuisance that the property owner fails to abate. These changes, and a discussion of proposed procedures for employing the revised Nuisances code , will be discussed in detail in the staff report for the 2nd Reading and public hearing for this ordinance on April 23rd.

Alternatives: The City Council may direct staff to amend this proposed ordinance or forgo amendment of Chapter 7.16 Sparks Municipal Code.

Recommended Motion: No motion required at first reading.

Attached Files:

Nuisance Abatement Ordinance.pdf

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