XENIA -- An exclusive Waste Watch investigation. Xenia wants to clean up its neighborhoods but some say a Code Enforcement Officer is citing the wrong people.
"I never had a problem with anyone in Xenia, but I can't say that now," said Carl Baker of Xenia.
Baker is one of hundreds of city residents that are fed up, mainly with a Code Enforcement Officer who appears to be a real stickler with the rules.
"The Code Enforcement Officer is doing their job based on the code," Assistant City Manager Brent Merriman said.
As part of Xenia's 2013 comprehensive plan to improve the city, council decided to ramp up code enforcement.
Long-standing city code requires all boats, trailers, campers and RVs on private property to have some sort of fence or hedge around it, to hide it from view. That rule hasn't been strictly enforced, though, until this month.
"Then they stop and tell me I had to build a fence around it, which I thought was pretty hilarious," Baker said.
Baker thinks it's ridiculous that he's getting in trouble when there are completely overgrown properties right down the street.
We talked to the city about it and they say the plan is to focus more on cleaning up rundown properties from now on.
"The reality is there are an abundance of other issues that we can focus our time and attention on that would have a greater community impact," Merriman said.
The city says residents have been complaining about the code crackdown. They want the enforcement officer to spend his shift, and their tax money, cleaning up blighted properties, not bugging upstanding homeowners.
The city manager and council say they plan to change the questionable code within the next month, so property owners will no longer be required to put up a fence around their boats or trailers.
If you suspect local or state government is wasting your money, we want to investigate. Call our Waste Watch Tip Line 937-262-1426. Or email us at wastewatch@fox45now.com.
"I never had a problem with anyone in Xenia, but I can't say that now," said Carl Baker of Xenia.
Baker is one of hundreds of city residents that are fed up, mainly with a Code Enforcement Officer who appears to be a real stickler with the rules.
"The Code Enforcement Officer is doing their job based on the code," Assistant City Manager Brent Merriman said.
As part of Xenia's 2013 comprehensive plan to improve the city, council decided to ramp up code enforcement.
Long-standing city code requires all boats, trailers, campers and RVs on private property to have some sort of fence or hedge around it, to hide it from view. That rule hasn't been strictly enforced, though, until this month.
"Then they stop and tell me I had to build a fence around it, which I thought was pretty hilarious," Baker said.
Baker thinks it's ridiculous that he's getting in trouble when there are completely overgrown properties right down the street.
We talked to the city about it and they say the plan is to focus more on cleaning up rundown properties from now on.
"The reality is there are an abundance of other issues that we can focus our time and attention on that would have a greater community impact," Merriman said.
The city says residents have been complaining about the code crackdown. They want the enforcement officer to spend his shift, and their tax money, cleaning up blighted properties, not bugging upstanding homeowners.
The city manager and council say they plan to change the questionable code within the next month, so property owners will no longer be required to put up a fence around their boats or trailers.
If you suspect local or state government is wasting your money, we want to investigate. Call our Waste Watch Tip Line 937-262-1426. Or email us at wastewatch@fox45now.com.
