Town to review nuisance ordinance before citing property owners

The Saukville Town Board is working on cleaning up its nuisance ordinances and procedures ahead of several citations it plans to issue on properties that are in “highly unacceptable” conditions.

Chairman Kevin Kimmes said last week the Town Board will review the new language for the ordinance soon, which will streamline the process for issuing and enforcing citations on dilapidated lots such as one that currently has 75 vehicles on it.

Ensuring that property owners aren’t unduly disrupting neighbors with sights, smells or noise is a necessary, but dreary part of his job, Kimmes said.

“It is the worst part of the role of the Town Board,” he said. “It’s a very invasive process and it sucks to do.”

Issuing orders to remove nuisances, ticketing for non-compliance and eventually forcing cleanings, are expensive and arduous processes for the town, Kimmes said, and for good reason, as it involves dictating what homeowners do on their own land.

“Nothing about it is pleasant,” he said.

The board will iron out vague points in the current code and write specific ordinances for what things won’t be allowed, Kimmes said.

The line of what is or isn’t a nuisance varies from community to community and within communities, he said, noting that line could look different for areas in the town with lots smaller than five acres than those with vast properties.