Columbus Code Enforcement is issuing a $1,000 fine to a Columbus homeowner after repeated attempts seeking to have garbage and rubbish removed from the property’s exterior.
City officials have alleged that the property, located at 720 Maple St., is a public nuisance, citing trash, garbage and rubbish along the outside area of the house and in the porch area.
Columbus police were dispatched to the house nearly 50 times from Feb. 10, 2018 to Jan. 23, 2020, regarding alleged incidences involving trespassing, unconscious people, fights, battery, theft and vandalism, according to public records.
The Columbus Board of Public Works approved the fine on Tuesday. The purpose of the fine would be to compel the homeowner to clean the property up, said Fred Barnett, Columbus’ code enforcement officer.
“I’ve tried to get them to comply and they just haven’t done it and I’ve given them chance after chance after chance,” Barnett said.
Barnett said he would mail the property’s owner a letter on Tuesday stating the fine. He said he also will hand-deliver another copy of the letter to the owner.
Michaela Burton is listed as the owner of the property, according to public records.
“Once they get the letter, they have five days to respond back if they want to appeal it,” Barnett said. “If they appeal it, they have to appear in front of the Board of Works to have that fine waived. My goal is compliance, to get it cleaned up, not the fine. But at the same time, sometimes that’s what it takes.”
If the owner does not appeal the fine and refuses to pay, the city will put a lien on the property for the amount of the fine and possibly could take the owner to court to encourage compliance, Barnett said.
“What happens is they will comply and then six months later it’s back to where it was, and then they’ll comply and six months later it’s back to the way it was. It’s an ongoing cycle,” Barnett said. “And you take that in conjunction with all the police calls and stuff, there’s an issue there. It becomes a public nuisance.”
Barnett told board of works members on Tuesday that he has “been dealing with the property since 2015.” Barnett said the “straw that broke the camel’s back” was a drug overdose that reportedly occurred on the property this past week.
Barnett said most property owners typically comply with code enforcement before being forced to pay a fine.
“I have issued $1,000 fines before, but people tend to always comply before that fine hits,” Barnett said. “…I haven’t collected a fine, but I’ve issued a lot of them.”
