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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 12/09/2025 - Memorandum from Lori F. Schwarz re PNO Committee and Code Compliance Update 1 Memorandum Date: December 4, 2025 To: Mayor and City Councilmembers Through: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager, Caryn Champine, Director, Planning, Development & Transportation From: Lori F. Schwarz, AICP, Deputy Director PDT/Director of Planning and Development Services, lschwarz@fcgov.com Subject: PNO Committee and Code Compliance Update BOTTOM LINE Staff was requested to provide an update on the Public Nuisance Ordinance (PNO) Committee’s actions. Additionally, Council requested information relating to the overall Code Compliance duties and practices. For 2025, the PNO Committee has reviewed twenty -two (22) individual properties with five (5) properties successfully abated. There are fourteen (14) properties still being monitored. To date this year, the Code Compliance team has addressed over 11,600 nuisance violations with 81.75% of those cases being proactively identified. The City maintains a very high voluntary compliance rate of 95%. BACKGROUND In December 2022, the Council adopted an updated Public Nuisance Ordinance (PNO) code with the passage of Ordinance 136,2022. The purpose of updating the PNO was two -fold. • To address chronic and public nuisance properties where repeat nuisance activities were occurring. • To add new processes and enforcement tools that are more administratively practical. The PNO Committee meets twice monthly to discuss progress on properties that have been designated as a Chronic Nuisance, as well as monitor properties that have multiple violations within a brief time period and are at risk of becoming a Chronic Nuisance. The Committee is composed of members from Planning and Development Services Department (including Building Services, Code Compliance, Planning/Zoning), Fort Collins Police Services, City Attorney’s Office and other departmental representatives, as warranted. Docusign Envelope ID: 4C037D46-BDFA-4381-BF95-561710786AB1 2 A Chronic Nuisance Property exists when: • Three or more nuisance activities have occurred on the property within 90 days, or seven or more nuisance activities have occurred within one year, with each activity occurring on a separate day, but not applicable to a property having multiple residential units under common ownership (i.e., apartment complex) • There are multiple residential units on the property under common ownership and six or more nuisance activities have occurred within 90 days or 10 or more nuisance activities have occurred within one year, with each activity occurring on a separate day • Two or more nuisance activities involving drug -related activity have occurred on the property within 30 days, with each activity occurring on a separate day; or • The property is an “abandoned property” and any number of nuisance activities have occurred or exist on it WORK IN PROGRESS PNO Committee Actions: During the course of 2025, from January to Present, the PNO Committee reviewed 22 individual properties. Within those efforts, the following determinations were made and/or actions were taken: • 6 Chronic Nuisance Property (CNP) Notices were issued. • 4 Abatement Agreements were drafted and signed • 2 Stipulated Agreements were produced with Municipal Court. • 5 properties were successfully abated and removed from Committee review. • 3 properties were determined to not need further action. • Currently, there are 2 properties for which CNP Notices are actively being drafted. Successful abatement of a chronic nuisance property is achieved when the property owner completes all required corrective actions within the specified timeframe given. The timeline is influenced primarily by the nature and severity of the observed issues. Additionally, the responsiveness and willingness of the property owners to work with the PNO Committee will also affect the overall timeline to bring the property into compliance and nuisance conditions to be resolved. Docusign Envelope ID: 4C037D46-BDFA-4381-BF95-561710786AB1 3 At present, the PNO Committee has a total of 14 properties listed that are currently under active monitoring for Chronic Nuisance Property designation and Notice and/or Abatement Agreement compliance. Additionally, during 2025, a total of 27 Code Compliance Citations were issued to properties which were listed on the PNO Committee review list. Once a citation has been issued, the Municipal Prosecution team will review the details of the offense, the property history and the severity of the violation. Outcomes will vary, but many cases result in escalated fines, especially for repeat or ongoing violations. In some circumstances, the Municipal Prosecution team may pursue additional enforcement actions such as abatement of the violations, which may result in a property lien if the City is not reimbursed by the owner. Code Compliance Duties and Practices: The Code Compliance team is responsible for addressing nuisance concerns across the City. These staff members also support numerous other compliance activities managed by other departments including but not limited to: Streets, Forestry, Park Services, Fort Collins Police Services, Sales and Use Tax, and Special Events. There are currently nine (9) members on the Code Compliance team with two vacancies. One position has been eliminated in the 2026 Budget and the other vacant position remains frozen. In 2025 , the frozen positions have translated into slower response and re-inspection timeframes. Staff have also needed to extend timeframes for proactive inspections from every 5 -6 weeks through an area to approximately every 7 -8 weeks. To respond to the staffing reductions, staff has reviewed the highest volume calls and has recommended level of services changes to the high grass and weeds ordinance as well as the sidewalk snow removal ordinance. These ordinance changes were brought to City Council at the December 2, 2025 meeting and passed on First Reading. Additionally, staff is contin uing to cross- train existing staff to address the environmental compliance issues as well as increasing educational opportunities in an effort to reduce f uture violations. To date in 2025, there have been 11,627 code compliance cases. Approximately 81.75% (9,490) of these cases were created proactively through staff discovering nuisance violations in their inspections through the community. Staff routinely drive through neig hborhoods and commercial areas to identify nuisance concerns that violate local ordinances. Staff also addressed 2,137 citizen complaints, which equals approximately 18.25% of total compliance cases. Docusign Envelope ID: 4C037D46-BDFA-4381-BF95-561710786AB1 4 The majority of compliance cases are resolved voluntarily, with only 5% of cases moving into citations/tickets. This is through a combination of proactive customer service actions by the Code Compliance team and responsive community members. For 2025 to date, sixty-one (61) citations/tickets have been issued and these are distributed as follows: • High weeds and grass – 18 • Rubbish – 17 • Outdoor Storage - 11 • Inoperable Vehicles – 9 • Trash Containers – 5 • Forestry – 1 Should case volume continue to rise as experienced in 2024 and 2025, further service adjustments may be necessary. This could include further ordinance modifications, review of all compliance staffing workload, and operational changes. There may also need to be a shift in performance benchmarks as the high voluntary compliance rate also requires significant customer service support by staff. Historically, this has been a goal of the City as strong voluntary compliance helps resolve issues without the need f or formal citations. It also promotes positive relationships with residents and supports a cooperative community approach to addressing code - related concerns. NEXT STEPS The PNO committee will continue to meet bi-monthly to discuss public nuisance properties and chronic nuisance properties. The next Council report from staff will occur at the end of 2026 or early 2027 unless otherwise requested. CC: John Hernandez, Sr. Code Compliance Supervisor Docusign Envelope ID: 4C037D46-BDFA-4381-BF95-561710786AB1