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, . . I . . . Attacking rights-of-ways would be an immediate solution to some of the visible I violations and just might inspire or provoke commercial compliance; L Vice Mayor Howard spoke in favor of the recommended immediate actions such as the 72 hour parking time limit as weII as utilizing all the powers of the Police Department, including fines, to force compliance. Vice Mayor Howard thanked the Committee and concerned citizens for their good work, asked that signs be given serious consideration, agreed that work furlough people could help a lot, and urged everyone to join in the Pride and Beautification Committee clean-ups. Vice Mayor Howard said "We have an obligation to participate in Citywide clean-ups." Mayor Hartnett reminded everyone that when code enforcement was previously discussed early last year, the Council put emphasis on health and safety code violations as its top priority, although visible violations were of great concern. He expressed support for that policy. In reference to attacking visible violations, he suggested an immediate and dramatic impact could be made by focusing on commercial properties first. Mayor Hartnett agreed the 72 hour parking limit (with the definitions suggested by Sergeant Manry) should be enacted as soon as possible. He discussed the need for good communication, buy-in by the private sector, and the need to act on those pieces of the program that can be done now without waiting for wholesale changes to the Code. He suggested the Committee work with SMCAR and Tri-City Apartment Association on the recommended letters that should highlight a few, reasonable I recommendations for code observation and enforcement. L Mayor Hartnett said the City's Code Enforcement Officers had been more aggressive in accordance with Council direction and progress had been made. He asked that Council not overreact with requests for more money and more staff at this point, but to aIIow the Committee to move forward with its focus on an intradepartmental approach to City code enforcement with citizen volunteers. Mayor Hartnett suggested that Council evaluate the code enforcement progress at budget time. Councilman Claire described the lack of even one code enforcement officer until 1984. He provided background on past Council's code enforcement policies including a sensitivity towards individual property rights against the intrusion of government into that realm. He said he had disagreed with the earlier conservative approach and supported code enforcement for health and safety reasons. Councilman Claire acknowledged the importance of aesthetics, major corridors' appearances, and other agencies' properties violations. He referred to the comments of Mr. Diaz and Mr. Daum regarding too many parked cars, and wondered if the Council should begin discussions regarding limiting the number of unrelated persons in one residential unit. Councilman Claire said some of the existing City Codes are confusing and they need to be based on common sense with a good appeal process. He described other cities L ADJOURNED REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING SEPTEMBER 23, 1996 MINUTES MINUTE BOOK NO. 54 PAGE 15 Page No. 510