A letter from the City Council: Over the past few weeks, blight and code enforcement have been hot topics in Bristol. Suggestions have been made that this current City Council has not done “enough” to curtail blight and enforce codes. However, the facts of the City’s blight reduction and code enforcement efforts over the past six years, and particularly the last two, actually make an argument much to the contrary. In 2008, the City established the Code Enforcement Committee, consistent of representation from the Chief Building Official, Director of Bristol/ Burlington Health District, Chief of Police or his designee, Zoning Enforcement Officer, Fire Marshal, Director of Public Works or their designees and chaired by a member of the City Council, currently Mayor Ward. This group meets monthly to coordinate the City’s anti-blight and code enforcement measures. Since the creation of the Code Enforcement Committee, the number of code complaints received has totaled 7891, or approximately 1500 per year. The two years prior to the creation of this committee, the City had received just 129 complaints total. The City has resolved 96% of the complaints received since 2008, and has billed violators a total of $1.34 million dollars, with approximately $1.1 [...]
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