Los Alamos County Councilor Antonio Maggiore chats with local resident Jane Longmire Friday following a meeting of the Los Alamos County Citizens in Action Group held at UNM-LA. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com

A dozen community members met with Los Alamos County Councilor Antonio Maggiore Friday morning under the auspices of the Los Alamos County Citizens in Action group. The meeting was posted relating to “Yard Ordinance Issue Part II” but actually pertained to the Los Alamos County Municipal Code Chapter 18, Environment.

A previous meeting, also attended by Maggiore, was held in White Rock Monday evening and was attended by 25 people. Friday’s meeting was mostly dominated by figuring out questions for a survey on the “Nuisance Code” that the group plans to disseminate early next week through local newspapers. The survey seeks to find out how many people know someone who has received a notice of violation from Los Alamos County Community Development Department Code Enforcement officers under the Code.

• It also asks how familiar residents are with the penalties of the Code and what constitutes a violation. It asks which of the following four options are closest to a resident’s opinion regarding nuisance ordinances in general:
• A strong nuisance ordinance and avid enforcement is necessary to protect safety, property values and the beautification of the community. This is a tool that can be used to lift standards and eliminate eye-sores. Private property rights can only go so far. The community must hold high standards to prevent blight
• The nuisance ordinance is needed mostly to correct safety issues and also some aesthetics. This is because some people let their property decline and penalties need to be enforced to make them take action
• Nuisance ordinances should focus entirely on safety issues with clear guidelines as to what constitutes a hazard. Ordinances are sometimes needed to force property owners to be accountable when extreme conditions exist. Aesthetics and enhancement of peoples’ property is a matter of personal taste and not a concern for municipal government
• Property is for use entirely at the owner’s discretion with the only exception being the conditions of public safety. Nuisance ordinances should respect private property rights above other community concerns, except in clear matters of safety

The exact wording of the options may be changed prior to distribution of the survey but the issues will substantially remain the same.

The group also discussed a plan for a work session on the issue slated Nov. 7 by the County Council. Suggestions included making sure there were lots of people at the work session to address the issue, writing letters to Council, showing up to meetings planned in the meantime and remaining actively engaged.

There also was some discussion of meeting with Community Development Department staff members Paul Andrus and Michael Arellano prior to the Council work session as no matter what the outcome of the survey and the work session, they would be part of the solution. It was felt that it would be beneficial to the group to hear what they had to say.

Councilor Maggiore told the group during the meeting that the notices of violation people are receiving are not intended to be “persecutionary” but are intended to open dialog with the County.

“We want to be able to provide a list of resources to help if you aren’t able to handle all of these things,” he said.

Maggiore also explained how changes occur in the focus of County staff. He said every year the Council has meetings where they talk about what are their priority focus areas for the year. He said one of the issues addressed was blight. He noted the cascade effect after direction is given and said Council has the ability to stop it but it’s not like a “put on the brakes stop”.

“One of the most frustrating things in government is the sometimes glacial pace it takes to enact change, and that is both a blessing and a curse,” he said. “When there’s something that is confronting you and coming down on you it’s a curse. When it’s a blessing is when it changes from one party to another. We would all have whiplash of government did not move at a glacial pace.”

Maggiore said he feels he is not alone in wanting to address the concerns being raised and looks forward to and expects a good, lively discussion Nov. 7.