Code Inspection and Enforcement

The City of Rochester has numerous residential, commercial and industrial buildings which are substantially sound and habitable structures providing decent housing resources for residents and businesses in the city. The city also has vacant areas and lots. Their condition and maintenance are vital to the protection and enhancement of the well-being of residents and businesses in adjacent residential neighborhoods and commercial and industrial areas. In order to conserve these valuable property resources in the city, to enhance the residential neighborhoods of the city and to protect the safety, health and welfare of the persons who live work and recreate in the city, the city adopted its property code.

Step One: Inspection:

An inspection is conducted by a Neighborhood Conservation Officer (NCO) from the Neighborhood Service Center (NSC) on the basis of a complaint, neighborhood survey, a referral or a Certificate of Occupancy. If violations are present, a Notice and Order is issued to the owner requiring abatement within a specified time frame depending on the violations. For minor situations courtesy letters may be sent instead of Notice and Orders.

Step Two: Reinspection:

The NCO regularly reinspects a property. If work is in progress, an extension may be given in “good faith” that the work will be completed. If no or little work has been completed, the NCO attempts to contact the owner and get a schedule for the completion of the work. An NCO will try to work with an owner to identify resources to resolve the violations whenever possible. If the owner does not comply with the Notice and Order, the NCO may recommend to the NSC Administrator that the case be placed in Enforcement.

Step Three: Enforcement:

Once the NSC Administrator approves the case for enforcement a final warning letter is sent, via regular mail, to the owner of the property. The final warning letter notifies the owner of the possible dollar amount of the fines and attaches a violation schedule. The NCO will then reinspect the property to see if any of the violations have been corrected. He/she will also attempt to contact the owner to gain compliance. If progress is made, the NCO will get a strict schedule from the owner for compliance.

If upon reinspection no progress is made, a ticket is issued to the owner. Initial fines can range from $50 to $150 per violation, with the fines doubling and tripling with subsequent tickets. The NCO will continue to monitor the property for progress or additional ticketing.

The owner can request a hearing for the ticket through the Municipal Codes Violation Bureau. Cases are heard by administrative hearing examiners. If found guilty, the fines stand. Fines should only be waived if the owner proves that the violation did not exist at the time the ticket was issued. If property owners do not pay fines, the fines are added to their taxes, unless there has been a change in ownership, in which case the outstanding fines are held in judgement against the person they were issued to.

Get Tough Violations:

In 1998, the City of Rochester adopted “Get Tough” legislation for high grass and weeds and trash and debris. This allowed for quicker abatement of those problems. Prior to 1998, the process to abate high grass and weed as well as trash and debris violations was very lengthy. It often took the entire summer to abate the problem. Compliance was only 50%. With the “Get Tough” system, compliance to initial Notices and Orders is over 80% and with tickets it is over 90%. Also, the number of Notice and Orders required has dropped dramatically. Overall, the initiative has improved the appearance of many city neighborhoods.

The process for Get Tough violations is as follows:

The NCO inspects the property for either high grass and weeds or trash and debris. Grass and weeds must be a minimum of 10 inches before an NCO can cite it. If the violation exists, the NCO sends out a Notice and Order which requires the owner to abate the violation within 5 days.

If upon reinspection the violation has been abated, the case is closed. If the violation has not been abated, the owner is issued a ticket for $150 per violation. The City then acts to abate the violation

For high grass and weeds, the property is sent to a private contractor to abate the violation. This is usually done within 2 days of submitting it to the contractor.
For trash and debris, a work order is submitted to the City’s Department of Environmental Services to abate the violation. The time this takes to abate is dependent on scheduling of the work crews.