Potential changes to Code Enforcement

On Tuesday, February 25th, the Social Services and Public Safety (SSPS) Committee will hear an update on Code Enforcement from District Six Councilmember Denise Gray and Director of Code Enforcement Lee Steele.

The Mayor’s Racial Justice and Equality Commission, which aims to combat systemic racism in Lexington, released a report in 2020 recommending that changes be made to the Division of Code Enforcement “to place the health, well-being, and protection of residents (especially the most vulnerable) and neighborhoods” as its mission.

Several aspects of Code Enforcement have changed since 2020 to make the agency less punitive to residents, including increased sidewalk repair assistance and reducing the number of possible violations. You can read about previous changes here.

Some proposed changes to the ordinance include:

• The inclusion of graffiti under “nuisances,” which would make graffiti a specific code enforcement violation.
• Reducing the amount of time previous nuisance complaints can be held against a resident. Currently, if a resident receives a code violation, they will receive additional fines if they have had a violation in the past 24 months; the proposed change would reduce that timeline to 12 months.