Our View: Enforce Property Clean-Up Equally

For rules of a town to work well, they must be enforced equally among all.  That simple theory is the premise of today's post.

First of all, the staff of the Dorchester Times says "thank you" to the Dorchester Village Board for its willingness to hire a contract employee in charge of tracking and contacting negligent (or just plain sloppy) property owners.  The code enforcement has made a noticeable difference in our community and it is a model that more small towns in Nebraska should follow.  All Times staff members think the board and contract employee have done a great job in showing real initiative and resolve.

Here are our suggestions to the board to improve town appearance further and help ensure compliance with the property code:

1.) Seriously consider imposing a monthly fine on vacant residential and commercial properties, as authorized by the State of Nebraska under LB256.  In many cases, owners of vacant, run-down properties in Dorchester are paying as little as $100 a year in property taxes.  They have no incentive to do anything with an empty building or home -- to improve it, rent it or sell it.  Thus, those negligent owners drag down the town with their dilapidated building.  But if they are charged a $100-per-month unoccupied-property fee from the Village of Dorchester, their wallets would dictate their actions.

2.)  The Village of Dorchester should equally and rigidly enforce its threats of legal action against negligent property owners.

That second point is important.  

Recently, we learned of a Dorchester property owner who was forced to take immediate action to either repair or remove an old garage next to the school.  Last month, that garage was completely torn down and cleared from the site, which improved the appearance of a very prominent area on a well-travel street. However, there are far worse structures around town.

We don't know the particulars of the process or the wording from the village.  But the same process should be used for other problem properties in town, including the two pictured on this post, which are much worse than the former garage on 9th Street.  (One of the garages pictured is at the corner of 9th St. and Lincoln Ave. -- which is very visible from main street.  The other garage is located on 8th St. and happens to face another dilapidated garage on the opposite side of the street.)

For a municipality's code to have teeth, it must be enforced strictly and in a timely manner on all parties.