Trash homes, overgrown yards irk residents

A public hearing on a proposal to adopt the International Property Maintenance Code brought frustrated residents out of the woodwork Tuesday, with nearly 20 people turning out for the Cloquet City Council meeting.

Complaints ranged from trashy properties to trash-talking neighbors, from people who never mow their lawn to junk cars sitting unmoved for years.

Many of the complaints were not relevant to the International Property Maintenance Code. But they were in keeping with the idea of city officials trying to make it easier to address city code property violations, pointed out Cloquet community development director Holly Hansen.

Hansen explained the IPMC would provide up-to-date widespread property maintenance standards. The IPMC is updated on an ongoing basis by the International Code Council and would give the city additional "tools" to enforce code on existing structures, Hansen said. It's about keeping buildings and neighborhoods safe, whether that means getting a building up to code or condemning it, she explained. Different parts of city code deal with long grass, accumulated garbage and vehicles that no longer run and aren't licensed, she said.

Councilors and Hansen didn't cut off the nine speakers even if the complaint wasn't relevant to the adoption of the IPMC - rather, they listened and thanked people for bringing their concerns to city hall.

James Niemi was worried about a structure near his home on Eighth Street. He said he's lived there 46 years and the accessory building to his neighbor's home was condemned at one time but never torn down. Now he worries someone is living there.

Niemi believes the building was originally constructed after the 1918 Fires.

"I think there's a guy living in there. There's no water, sewer, gas or heat," he said, adding that he's observed an extension cord running from the home on the property to the building, which looks a little like a small weather-worn barn.

When he complained, city staff took photos, but "nothing gets done," he said.

Hansen said the city added the property to a list of properties that may be inspected, which could lead to future enforcement action.

Clarence Badger and his son, John, both talked about a home on Moorhead road that Clarence called a junkyard and John said would have 20-30 bags of trash in a week, broken windows, multiple cars showing up day and night. Neighbors made calls to the city for a long time.

The city responded, but "it really felt like there was no teeth to do anything about it," John said.

The property was cleaned up this summer after a bank foreclosed on it, he said. Trailer loads of trash were removed.

Resident Chris Sturm said he's been through "16 years of pure hell" on his block of 16th Street.

"We have codes. We have laws. They're not enforced," he said, complaining of piles of cars, ATVs and snowmobiles. "And now it's spread to the neighbor's across the street."

Lack of enforcement was a repeated complaint, with some people saying they've just given up calling the city or the police.

Hansen said the city first has to figure out who's responsible for a property and what kind of violations there are.

"Certainly our codes, ultimately, in the end, got the bank to comply with that property and clean that up, which is their responsibility," she said of the Moorhead Road property.

In cases where a resident doesn't mow or take care of fallen or dangerous trees, Hansen said the council could decide to intervene. But it costs money. The city has to carefully choose "so that we protect our taxpayers and don't overspend on improvements that we can push off to other players, like banks."

Ward 2 councilor Sheila Lamb suggested forming a community group and working with other volunteer or nonprofit entities to clean up yards, especially for citizens who are not physically able.

"Maybe bringing some of that back into our community again can not only help this situation, but pull us together for all the generations as a community as well," she said.

Ward 5 councilor Lyz Jaakola talked about incentivizing cleanup with neighborhoods or social organizations. She also encouraged talking face-to-face and building relationships.

At-large councilor Lara Wilkinson mentioned citywide cleanups - those are also very expensive and problem homes likely wouldn't be jumping on the bandwagon anyway, city administrator Tim Peterson said.

There was no vote on the IPMC adoption; that will come at the next council meeting Sept. 17.

"As far as what tonight is concerned, this is hopefully a step that we can take to try to give us more things that we're able to do, and hopefully try to do a better job for the community," Peterson said.