Property Maintenance Code

NEIGHBORHOOD PRESERVATION

This was published in the September 2000 issue of Across the Back Fence from the Neighborhood Offices.

NEIGHBORHOOD PRESERVATION:
Property Maintenance Code

By Angela Duncan, City Code Compliance Officer

Last March 2000, Mesa voters approved a neighborhood preservation ordinance that included the exterior maintenance and repair of homes and yards. Neatly-kept homes and yards provide for a safe, attractive environment in your neighborhood and help to maintain property values. As part of Mesa Public Nuisances, Property Maintenance, and Neighborhood Preservation Code, the new voter-approved ordinance provides added protection for our
neighborhoods against deterioration and blight. If homes are not properly maintained as our neighborhoods age, they may become run-down, unsightly, and perhaps unsafe.

There are several aspects of the new exterior maintenance ordinances that everyone who owns or rents a home in Mesa should understand:

- The exterior of your house, as well as your yard, exterior fences, walls, and other exposed exterior surfaces of buildings or structures on your property are subject to the new ordinance. This new ordinance applies only to exposed, exterior surfaces. They must be seen from the public right-of-way surrounding your property, such as an alley or street.

· The ordinance requires that exposed, exterior surfaces on your property be maintained in a structurally sound condition and not exhibit deterioration, disrepair, or blight. Examples of blight conditions include: holes, breaks, rot, crumbling, cracking, peeling, and rusting.

· Landscaping must also be kept in good condition, and cannot show uncontrolled growth, damage, decay, or a general lack of maintenance.

· Materials, colors, or finishes used on buildings or structures located on your property, such as your exterior walls or fence, must match, or be compatible with the materials, colors, or finishes used on that same building or structure. For example, if half of your block wall is painted, then the other half must be painted to match. Again, these conditions must be seen from the public right-of-way.

The City of Mesa needs the help of every citizen to maintain our
neighborhoods with pride. Continual maintenance of your property protects your investment and projects a positive image of your neighborhood. Mesa's new exterior maintenance ordinance, along with the rest of the Public Nuisances, Property Maintenance, and Neighborhood Preservation Code, benefits you and your neighborhood by helping to combat deterioration and blight to make our city a more pleasant place to live. By working together, we
can keep Mesa beautiful!

Financial help and volunteer labor assistance may be available for residents in need, for repairs on properties in violation of the new ordinance. For more information on the new ordinance or any of Mesa's Neighborhood Preservation Code, please call the City of Mesa Code Compliance Division at (480) 644-2061.
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The following is a list of structures and exterior surfaces on your property that are covered by the new exterior maintenance ordinance:

Exterior Windows and Doors - should not be broken, missing, or poorly fitted and should be weather proof

Canopies and Metal Awnings - should be in good condition and free from rips, holes, excessive fading and should not be bent or torn

Roofs - should be free from surface breaks, raised edges, and missing, curled, loose, or excessively worn shingles

Exhaust Ducts - should be in good repair and not rusted or dilapidated

Chimneys - should be structurally sound with no cracks, deteriorated mortar, missing or broken brick

Painted Surfaces - no peeling, cracked, or blistered paint

Window Screening - should not be excessively worn or have any rips or tears

Fences and Screen and Retaining Walls - should not be dilapidated, unsightly, leaning, missing blocks or slats or in disrepair and should be free of graffiti

Foundations - settling, cracked, crumbling, or excessively leaning foundations must be repaired

Cooling Devices - should be in good repair and not rusted or dilapidated

Outdoor Stairs, Porches, and Railings - should not have broken or deteriorated deck boards, steps, handrails, or broken concrete steps

Yards/Landscaping - should be maintained in a healthy, growing condition, not overgrown, dead, or full of weeds and/or litter

For information on reporting code violations:

City of Mesa Neighborhood Services/Code Compliance