How long to be tolerated?

When a property in Woodstock is out of compliance with the City Code, how long should it take the City to cause the property owner to come back into compliance?

Should it take over a month to correct? These trailers and sign are in the front yard at what may be 821 N. Seminary Ave., Woodstock. I say "may be" because the owner has removed the house number over the front door. The property is on the west side of Seminary at the corner of Christian Way, right across from where the beautiful Grace Hall was and where the new senior-living duplex has been constructed.

With a reasonable property owner it should be a simple matter. The Code Enforcement Officer sends a letter about the problem or makes one courtesy visit. Upon becoming aware of the violation, a reasonable property owner would correct the violation and avoid further involvement with the legal process..

But therein may be the problem - that being the word "reasonable." This property has been called to the attention of Code Enforcement many times in recent years. For months the property owner left an old pick-up truck with a snowblade backed in the driveway, with a For Sale sign on it. For about a year an old van and a large box trailer have been parked in the driveway.

Often in the mornings a truck will be parked across the sidewalk for hours, because the box trailer and the van are not parked far enough back in the driveway to allow another vehicle in the driveway without blocking the sidewalk.

Have tickets or citations been issued? Has the City gone public with its efforts to bring that property back into compliance? Doing so might hasten compliance, and it might also alert other property owners to the proper, sometimes aggressive, efforts by the City to keep Woodstock looking great.