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Consider Enacting Changes to the Town Noise and Garbage, Trash, and Refuse Ordinances to Remove Criminal Penalties and Clarify the Civil Enforcement Remedies.
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Staff:
Department:
Maurice Jones, Manager
Manager's Office
Mary Jane Nirdlinger, Deputy Manager
Ann Anderson, Town Attorney
Town Attorney's Office
Overview: The Town's current Noise Ordinance (Chapter 11, Art. III) allows violations to be enforced through criminal penalties of up to $150 and/or up to 10 days in jail. Similarly, violations of the Town's current Garbage, Trash, and Refuse Ordinance (Chapter 8) can result in a criminal charge and a $500 penalty and/or imprisonment up to 30 days.
The proposed changes to the Ordinance would eliminate criminal penalties and limit enforcement to civil remedies. The civil citation range would be formalized to start at $25 and increase to $500 for repeat violations. Both ordinances would retain the Town's authority to seek injunctive or other equitable remedies in civil court as necessary.
The bulk of the amendments to these ordinances occur in the enforcement sections: Noise, Secs. 11-42 and 11-43; and Garbage, Trash and Refuse, Secs. 8-11 and 8-44. Other clarifying changes and corrections of gender-specific language appear in other sections of the ordinances.
The proposed civil citation scheme applies to all pertinent violations of the ordinances. It is worth noting that several sections of the Garbage, Trash, and Refuse ordinance that previously did not have any penalty would now have a civil penalty:
* Sec. 8-5. - Garbage, household waste, yard waste and recycling containers; construction; location
* Section 8-32. - Deposits in the public right-of-way
* Section 8-24.4(b) - Disposal of yard waste materials
Finally, a $100 charge for replacement of a Town key for Town-owned refuse containers has been substituted in section 8-44(f) for the prior $50 fine.
Recommendation(s):
That the Council enact the proposed Changes to the Town's Noise and Ga...
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