Lexington Council to dive deeper into Code Enforcement program

WEKU | By Stu Johnson

Lexington’s City Council will take a deep look into an evaluation of the government’s code enforcement program. The matter will be studied in a Council committee.

Sixth District Council Member Denise Gray won Council approval on eight motions connected to code enforcement operations. The first term Council representative says there has been task force work with no major action. Gray said some issues have been ongoing for years.

“Many of the residents are dealing with issues of code enforcement being weaponized and used against them..regarding in low income areas where gentrification has happened,” said Gray.

Gray said some town halls on the topic may be held. City Housing Advocacy and Community Development Commissioner Charlie Lanter says code enforcement responses are complaint driven. Lanter said some conversation over the process is a good thing.

Gray noted she’s heard of certain developers filing complaints on homeowners, which Gray added leads to gentrification concerns. Charlie Lanter said he’s not aware of a developer-focused campaign.

“I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, cause I’m sure it does and has happened. I don’t think it happens on any kind of grand scale, like a regular occurrence,” said Lanter.

Lanter said the vast majority of property owners are responsible and responsive to code enforcement violations. The housing commissioner admits there are also repeat offenders. Lanter and Gray anticipate committee review of code enforcement to take some time.

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Photo by Stu Johnson.

Republished with permission.