Ordinances, Ordinances

 

New Cascade Ordinances:

Know, so You Don’t Get Caught Out!

A dizzying collection of new ordinances have been passed in the last year. This rundown is to help the average citizen know what they are and not incur a police visit, or worse—a  fine, penalty or lien.

The most widespread changes likely to affect the most people relate to building permits. One of my neighbors was aggravated to discover that he needed a $75-permit to fix a drainage problem the city created (!) on the sidewalk in front of his house. The fee for sidewalks and driveways currently listed on the city website is $25, but by September 1st you will need a permit for Fences, Signs & Concrete #12-23 costing $75, a 200% increase.

Passed last July (’22), the building permit for a deck or addition has gone up from $25 to $150, a whopping 600% increase. A new home permit is $400 and there is further expensive new wrinkle here—the permit applicant must also pay for an inspection by East Central Iowa Association (ECIA). And said applicant must pay extra if ECIA has to come out from Dubuque to inspect your place.

Yes, and fix what he/she doesn’t like if it doesn’t pass inspection!

The Dilapidated Buildings Ordinance #01-23 is not likely to affect most ordinary citizens. It’s mainly aimed at business people with vacant downtown property.  However, it will be excellent to have some redress against a property owner like Jeremy Miller, who let the old Farmer’s Bank Building roof decay, absconded and ended up costing Cascade taxpayers over $257,000.

Perhaps the most worrisome of the clutter of new ordinances is the most recent—carried over from the August 14^th meeting because the legal language was incorrect. Ordinance #10-23 limits Garage or Rummage Sales to 3 per year, only 3 days running, so if there is a 4-day weekend, you can’t have a sale every day of it. Anyone reading this can envision the sort of family problems that might cause you to have to dissolve your household and need to sell stuff.  

Before it has even passed, a young couple on Main Street may have been driven out of town by it. (They may have been the impetus for it.)They had a month-long yard sale trying to save the house they inherited and people complained. I don’t know who, though I hope it wasn’t the couple who moved a business in next door. This is a perfect example of how people are driven into poverty in the U.S. and it’s shameful. We should be outraged.

            An ordinance animal lovers might get caught on is #07-23, Vicious and Dangerous Animals & Maximum Allowable Dogs and Cats passed on 26 June. There was a great deal of discussion over the appropriate number for a household, which turned out to be a total of 8: 3 dogs and 5 cats. For most of these ordinances, there has been a 5-0 approval vote, but here Councilman Riley Rausch objected, something we need more of.

            It was gratifying that Councilwoman Megan Oliphant objected to the deadlines in #14-23 the Trees Ordinance, which gives the city the ability to order a homeowner to remove a dead or diseased tree in their yard. “Removing a tree can cost $1,000, and people don’t have that kind of cash lying around,” said Oliphant. (At the end of the meeting, I pointed out removing mine cost $3,000.) As many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck perhaps Council needs to consider aiding homeowners in compiling with the Tree Removal Ordinance. 

The Storm Water Discharge #13-23 ordinance passed 14 Aug. (on one reading with no subsequent readings) may help homeowners prone to flooding, but not if the city won’t enforce the 80-20 rule. Private homeowners are allowed to cover more than 100% their property with hard surface. Only developers are held to the 80-20 requirement.

If the gutters run water off your house directly into the street, you may be asked to make sure it gets trained onto a grassy surface. But if we don’t get some rain, nobody is probably going to ask you that either!