'Taking a proactive approach': Bartow plans to clean up by cracking down on code violators

Paul Nutcher, Lakeland Ledger
·4 min read

To eliminate blight from overgrown lots, abandoned cars and dilapidated buildings within the Bartow city limits, City Manager Mike Herr has a initiative to make the city safer and cleaner.

By June, all city residents can expect a letter from Herr announcing a code enforcement initiative he’s dubbed the Capital City Clean-up, which aims to improve areas where blight and crime are the highest.

“We said, look, if we're going to have cleaner and safer neighborhoods, we really have to get after some of these code violations that have been nagging and really sort of dragging our neighborhoods down,” Herr said in a recent phone interview.

“So we are taking a proactive approach,” he said.

592 properties with at least one violation

With the help of city department heads, Herr and his administration have identified:

  • 592 properties with at least one code violation.

  • Among those properties, there are total of 879 code violations.

  • There were 43 properties posing life and safety issues.

This property on Oak Avenue in Bartow is on a list of homes targeted for demolition. City Manager Mike Herr is launching an aggressive program to deal with code violations, reduce blight and, by extension, crime.
This property on Oak Avenue in Bartow is on a list of homes targeted for demolition. City Manager Mike Herr is launching an aggressive program to deal with code violations, reduce blight and, by extension, crime.

Property maintenance and sanitation were the most frequent type of violation.

“These are violations that are outstanding, and they just run the spectrum,” Herr said. “And so, we will prioritize. We will do everything we can to seek voluntary compliance first before we go through citations. Because citations end up creating more red tape and we really don’t want that. But if we have to do that, we will.”

He said many residents are innocent to the fact that leaving old cars or uncut grass brings down the neighborhood, and people seeing the blight feel like they're in a dangerous area.

“It’s more important to work with people than it is just to regulate,” he said. “And as part of working with people, our approach is we would like to do everything we can do to try to change behavior.”

'The heat maps will tell you'

In January, Herr asked the police department’s code enforcement manager, Tray Towles, to determine the number and extent of the violations within the city’s residential neighborhoods, business districts and city-owned properties.

A property on Wabash Street in Bartow targeted for demolition. City residents will get a letter in June spelling out the new initiative to clean up the city's blighted areas.
A property on Wabash Street in Bartow targeted for demolition. City residents will get a letter in June spelling out the new initiative to clean up the city's blighted areas.

Towles gave his presentation at a City Commission meeting April, and heat maps were used to identify and prioritize areas with the highest concentrations of violations.

The city was divided into 13 zones as part of the initial cleanup and long-term enforcement plans. Each zone was surveyed street by street and house by house.

And Herr is not working off the cuff. When a new code enforcement director started in January, he spent time gathering statistics and then offering recommendations.

Also, when former Police Chief Andy Ray took over the police department, he wrapped the code enforcement division within the police department to give its officers more teeth to eventually go after violators. It had been a division within the building department.

The letter to be sent in June says that the city will establish collection points in several districts for certain weeks when cleanup efforts for such items as trash, debris and old tires will be conducted.
The letter to be sent in June says that the city will establish collection points in several districts for certain weeks when cleanup efforts for such items as trash, debris and old tires will be conducted.

“So the heat maps will tell you, where you have code violations, you typically have crime,” Herr said.

Towles put together a plan based on conversations with Herr and Ray since coming onboard in January.

The hope is increased property values, lower crime

The letter to be sent in June says that the city will establish collection points in several districts for certain weeks when cleanup efforts for such items as trash, debris and old tires will be conducted. Assistance will come from across several city departments, including code enforcement, police, public works, parks and recreation and solid waste.

The letter will ask Bartow residents to clean up yards, alleys and streets and identify items to place on the city right of way for collection, such as wrecked cars, old furniture and other debris. The initiative also asks residents to mow their grass and trim back overgrown bushes and trees so sidewalks are clear.

By improving the sight and safety of the city, Herr hopes property values could increase and removal of unsafe items could protect people and children from potential hazards.

Mobile home parks were not part of the initial survey and will be addressed separately, as they could take months to come into compliance.

The initiative also asks residents to mow their grass and trim back overgrown bushes and trees so sidewalks are clear.
The initiative also asks residents to mow their grass and trim back overgrown bushes and trees so sidewalks are clear.

According to a recent University of Pennsylvania study, code enforcement intervention has been shown to decrease crime and improve the quality of life.

Across selected neighborhoods studied: 

  • Overall Crime decreased by 9.2%.

  • Gun assaults decreased by 5.8%.

  • Burglaries decreased by 13.7%.

In neighborhoods below the poverty line, these effects were even better statistically:

  • Overall crime decreased by 9.1%.

  • Gun assaults decreased by 17.4%.

  • Burglaries decreased by 14.6%.

The use of outdoor spaces increased by 76% after code enforcement intervention compared to neighborhoods without it.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Bartow wants to tackle blight and crime through code violations