Rathdrum enforces new code updates
Rathdrum city employees have been revamping the city’s codebook to make ordinances clearer and easier for people to read. Now that most of the code is updated, citations can be sent to violators.
“It was important that it was clear what was allowed and what wasn’t allowed,” said Leon Duce, city administrator.
In summer 2020, the City Council issued a moratorium on citations for code violations for carports in a driveway and RV or trailer parking, giving people a grace period until the city was able to clear up some language in the code.
“Throughout the summer, we did have a particular issue on the use of property and what was allowed and what wasn’t allowed,” Duce said. “We had a lot of complaints about only being able to park an RV on the street for 48 hours. Where we had the most confusion and violations were around RV parking, carports and shops.”
Earlier versions of city ordinances for trailer parking could not be applied on a corner lot, where setbacks would overlap, so people with a corner lot didn’t have options for their RVs or boats but to park them illegally. RVs are only allowed to be parked on a street for 48 hours, but, for some residents, laws were found to be too strict, as they did not provide other options.
In October 2022, ordinances went into effect that fully outlined new laws for RVs, boats and trailers, and revisions on residential codes were passed that allowed space on corner lots for RV parking.
The moratorium was lifted in the summer of 2022, paving the way for letters of code violations being sent to homeowners instructing them to remove the structures.
A small backlog of about nine violations was processed from the moratorium, and code enforcement officers can now issue citations for new violations, so code enforcement is operating normally.
The process for 'normal enforcement' starts with a citizen filing a referral or complaint with the city for a violation, then the code enforcement officer opens an investigation.
No one on staff in Rathdrum actively seeks out violations in the community. The enforcement officer usually works to find violations in plans for future projects and responds to complaints of potential violations.
“Code violations are as reported by citizens,” Duce said. “We don’t believe in a heavy hand, it’s more of, ‘Why do we have these codes?’”
If investigations find violations, letters are mailed to people outlining a path to correction. Anyone who is issued a citation is invited to talk to city staff members to understand the violations and how they can make corrections.
“We’re very much into the communication aspect,” Duce said. “We prefer to educate first rather than go into enforcement issues.”
Duce typically finds that when he explains the reasoning behind city ordinances to people, they’re willing to comply.
“Safety is the biggest purpose of the rules,” Duce said.
Parking an RV on the street, for example, puts children playing around it in danger from traffic.
If people are less than cooperative, the city can resort to issuing fines, which can be paid at City Hall, but that will typically be a last resort after multiple failed attempts to communicate with a resident in violation or multiple complaints from the community.
