Everett Acts To Close Loopholes In Nuisance Laws To Clean Up Neighborhoods

The Everett City Council Wednesday night got a briefing on plans to tighten loopholes in the city’s nuisance ordinance. Kevin Fagerstrom, supervisor of the city’s code enforcement unit explained there were three areas where people were able to avoid enforcement action. First the current law says people must keep junk, trash and debris out of their yards but it does not address their carports so as long as the yard was clean but the car port a mess, the resident was in compliance. Also there is currently a limit of 4 cars per lot but if a parcel of land has several lots but only one house, they could still have dozens of old vehicles on the lot. The new rules would limit the number of cars per residence to four vehicles including motorcycles plus one additional vehicle for each licensed driver. The final issue concerns people who have corner lots parking their vehicles on their yard next to the street. The vehicle would have to be in the marked driveway or around the back of the house. Fagerstrom told the council his department wants to accomplish the enforcement of the spirit of the matter so properties in Everett WA are maintained to a certain standard and closing the loopholes could accomplish that objective.

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