New Berlin considers new rules for home upkeep

New Berlin - City officials don't want to delve too closely into the touchy area of maintenance rules for homeowners, but they don't like having their hands tied when, say, a home has a tree growing in a gutter.

Corliss Tischer, New Berlin code compliance specialist, recalls such a real-life complaint and how she had to respond to it.

"I have to look at people and say I can't do anything," Tischer said.

A growing concern

Because the city has gotten more complaints than ever, partly because some foreclosed properties aren't being maintained, officials are looking into passing their first home maintenance ordinance since about 1996 - the year single-family homes were removed from the city's property maintenance rules for all but agricultural property.

Currently, there are 38 foreclosed homes in the city out of a total of about 15,000 homes.

To give aldermen more time to consult with constituents, the Common Council last week tabled a proposed ordinance containing the residential maintenance rules. However, there was strong support for approving some kind of rules before spring, when complaints pop up along with the tulips.

If the city does adopt new rules, it's unlikely the city would nit-pick small individual problems, Tischer said. Rather, the city would consider each instance is taken in its totality.

And no one would be driving around looking for violations, either, said Jessica Titel, associate planner. The city will only investigate if an alderman or people who leave their names complain, she explained.

No love for old intrusiveness

Some officials remember those old home repair rules prior to 1996 and are glad they're gone.

Alderman Ken Harenda said he wants to make sure the proposed rules don't open the door for the city to step in when a home's paint is peeling a little or the gutters need to be replaced.

"Years back, the city got intrusive," Harenda said. "How far will this go?"

He still sees the potential for the city to get involved where it shouldn't, for whatever reason.

"I don't think our staff will abuse this, but I've seen it in other communities. I'm looking down the road, I guess," he said.

The other big worry is that residents would use maintenance codes against each other in neighbor feuds. People already try to involve aldermen in neighbor disputes, said Alderman David Ament.

He also worried if the city would become a kind of Big Brother, able to come into peoples' yards and homes to investigate complaints.

But City Attorney Mark Blum said there are many steps to go through before that could happen.

First city employees would try to determine the validity of complaints by looking from sidewalks and streets, he said. If they need a closer look, they would ask the homeowner for permission to come onto the property. If the property owner refused, Blum would evaluate whether there is enough cause to ask the municipal judge to issue a special inspection warrant. Finally, the judge would use his independent judgment.

Any system can be abused, Blum said, but there are hurdles to clear before the city could come onto private property.