Crystal Surdyk, city development director, and Kasie Foulk, deputy development director, discussed with both the Housing and Public Safety committees some clarifying changes planned for some aspects of the City Code. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

A resolution brought before the city council Monday night was passed by the public safety committee, but it was also discussed at the city’s housing committee meeting as well, outlining planned changes made to clarify some areas of the city code.

City Development Director Crystal Surdyk and Deputy Director Kasie Foulk brought the changes up first at the Housing Committee meeting. The pair walked the committee down through the changes, beginning with accessory structures. As it stands right now, Foulk said an accessory structure such as a garage or shed can be the only structure on a lot in a commercial district, and not a residential district. The changes simply clarify and spell out that an accessory structure cannot be the only structure on a lot in a residential district.

The next change looked at was in parking in residential areas.

“Right now the code just says that driveways need to be durable and dustless, but it doesn’t actually explicitly say what dustless means, so we get a lot of questions on that,” Foulk said. “Gravel can cause dust and does cause dust, so we don’t like gravel driveways.”

Foulk emphasized that this would be for new installs and would have to be approved by the building and zoning code officer just like with asphalt, concrete, brick or other driveway types. This ensures a dustless driveway and prevents mud from forming. Foulk added that the code had no specific driveway requirements for length and width, so those were added, along with the needs for a permit for new driveways or those being added to.

Following some questions and conversation about curbs, aprons and stormwater drainage and drainage systems, the next code item adding clarifying changes to was for fencing. Specifically for fencing, a definition for ornamental fences was added for in front of people’s homes such as ones used to keep deer away or for decoration.

“What we’re running into right now is standard chain link in front yards, and we’re just trying to improve our design standards to have more appealing and better looking front yards,” Foulk said.

Chain link fences can be vinyl and colored, and fence height was changed to four feet, along with clarification that fences can be put directly on property lines.

For heating, an addition was made to the code to include owner-occupied dwellings. This is specifically for multiple dwellings, and a question was raised as to how it is enforced if a complaint is raised that a landlord is not heating the building properly. Foulk said it is the same as any other code complaint in that they would get a call about it being cold and the furnace not working and the landlord not doing anything about it, and then the department would go in.

“The only clarification for this is we added the owner occupied because for the majority of our codes and living standards home owners have more of an ability to control the heat, but if you are a property owner and have someone else’s life in your hands, you should be heating your home,” Foulk said.

It was added that anytime a code enforcement officer goes in to inspect a complaint they inspect everything, including the heat for a code violation regardless if that was part of the complaint or not. The state standard for heating in a residential building is 68 degrees.

The other code area with some clarifications to be added is in rubbish, specifically for compost and some items that could be considered ornamental lawn decor. Storage was also briefly discussed for a single motor vehicle that is not registered, with clarification to put it in something enclosed like a cover or carport.

The ordinance changes were brought up again at the Public Safety Committee meeting, specifically for the heating-related change. Surdyk said the department works to ensure that all owner occupied properties have furnaces or equipment able to reach the required 68 degree mark, but that it is not up to the department on how the property owners fix or change things if they do not have that ability. It is the same as if someone had junk in their front yard or if there is a roof that leaks and needs to be replaced, it is not up to them to tell them how to do it, just that it needs to be fixed.

“We’re not walking into homes and saying it’s 62 degrees, you’ve got to get out,” Foulk said. “We’re just ensuring that there is equipment in the home that can provide that temperature. We’re not saying you have to keep your thermostat at 67, a tenant is going to keep their thermostat at whatever temperature they want to put their thermostat at, that’s their right. As long as their equipment functions to get them up to a comfortable temperature.”

It was emphasized that the 68 degree temperature is a state requirement, and something that was already included in the ordinance in the city code. This temperature has always been there and is not a change, the only change being made to the heating section of the city code is the clarification addition of it applying to owner occupied dwellings.

“All of these things are already happening,” Foulk said. “Crystal mentioned earlier that these changes to the code are clarifying amendments and not large changes to the code, which is absolutely correct. It’s just, additional language to help people understand and follow the code properly. It’s not to make things more difficult or say you have to have your house at 68 degrees. You have to have the ability to make sure the people and families living in your property are warm.”