Harrisburg City Hall
A potential update to Harrisburg’s code enforcement standards would beef up consequences for violators.
City Council on Tuesday weighed a proposal to update Harrisburg’s Building and Housing Development Code to modernize the system, while giving the city power to directly fine property owners and managers in violation of codes.
“It’s very hard for enforcement right now,” explained city Solicitor Neil Grover at the council meeting. “There is no consequence for a very long time. It takes an awful lot of time just to get them [violators] into a courtroom.”
Currently, the city is using outdated standards from the 2000 edition of the International Code Council’s International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC). The proposed bill would change the city code to reflect the most recent 2018 IPMC.
However, in addition to modernizing the standards, the proposed update would make it easier for the city to hold property owners and managers accountable for code violations.
The proposed model would give Harrisburg’s codes department the power to fine people on the spot when issuing a violation notice. Property owners and managers would then have the opportunity to pay the fine immediately, similar to the process of paying for a parking ticket, Grover explained. And just as parking ticket fees increase the longer that you take to pay them, code violation fines would start at $50, jumping to $100 and then $200 over time, for many cases.
If fines are not paid within the designated time frame, the case would go before a judge.
Right now, the city doesn’t have the power to issue fines. When codes officers issue a violation notice, the case goes to a local magisterial district judge, who is responsible for setting fines. According to Grover, that process is often lengthy, with some notices not even making it to a judge and some violators never seeing fines.
“The theory is, when you start to enforce against some people, other people comply more easily if there’s actually going to be a consequence that they can see people have for ignoring their obligations,” Grover said.
Additionally, the codes update includes language clarifying that both property owners and managers can be cited for violations. Currently, Grover said, judges often interpret the code to mean that only owners can be held accountable.
The update also includes various other changes, largely aimed at clarifying language and adding detail to code requirement descriptions.
“I look forward to seeing us move forward with this and seeing us move forward in the future with trying to migrate the system, make it easier, but also holding some of our landlords and property owners to tougher standards to keep our community looking beautiful,” said council member Jocelyn Rawls.
Council will still need to vote on the proposal before it is adopted.
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