Ordinances are the Law!

There seems to be some confusion, even among current Board supervisors and Planning Commission members, as to what an ordinance actually is.  They have been referred to as "guidelines" or "recommendations".

In order for a law to be effective, it has to be recognized and enforced.  Why have it on the books if it is just going to be overlooked or if there is no one willing to enforce it?

Eureka has a lengthy list of ordinances that have been written over the years.  They are intended to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Township.  They also keep the Township headed in the right direction as described in our Comprehensive Plan.

The Board can use our building inspector and Dakota County Sheriff for ordinance enforcement.  However, the informal policy in our Township is to take a passive approach to ordinance violation.  Ordinance infractions aren't actively looked for; they typically come to light through the complaint process.

Citizen addressing the Board on an open complaint

This is a process by which a neighbor reports an activity that they perceive to be an ordinance violation. Their name is stripped from the complaint by the clerk and has to be kept secret (despite the way Chairman Storlie handled a complaint at a recent meeting, asking the complainant to identify themselves, and when no one did, striking the topic from the agenda). The complaint has to be addressed by the Board within 30 days and there is a sequence of follow-up steps that must be taken in order to resolve a complaint.

No one should have to have their complaint go unaddressed for, let's say, a year or two.  That would be egregious!

So ordinances are serious business.  It takes a lot of deliberation to write a good one.  They should be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.  A citizen can propose ordinance language (consider how the AgriTourism discussion began).

The Township has a fund set aside to create a Task Force to research and write ordinances, with the help of professionals like planners and our attorney.  We have taken months to craft well researched ordinances in the past.  Recently a Task Force was convened to address the topic of Transfer of Building Rights.  This is close to becoming law and will be the subject of another post.

So why this post about Ordinances 101 now?  Well, I swamped the blog with posts about AgriTourism recently.  I should have summarized or sharpened it to a point.  Here goes:

We should only invest effort in ordinances when there is a demonstrated need and a will to enforce them.  They should be well researched and vetted.  Putting a law on the books to address a current situation or personal priority of a Board member should be avoided.  

Sure, ordinances can be amended and repealed, but that takes time, effort, $$...We'll have to do that soon for a hastily crafted ordinance on accessory-use structures passed by the Board last month because it has a gaping hole in it.

Bottom line is, why put an ordinance on the books that the majority of Township citizens who testified at a public hearing don't support?