Cedar Key has a CEO, that is a Code Enforcement Officer. The CEO's job is to enforce the City code, which among other things limits signage. A recent case of overenthusiastic signage display of For Sale signs on Hodgson Avenue brought action by the CEO. And the sign enthusiast took down the four signs that violated the sign ordinance.
That raises the question, "Can the sign ordinance be violated a little, but not a lot?" The cool real estate market has resulted in a proliferation of "For Sale" signs. The sign ordinance limits each property to one For Sale sign.
Enforcement of rules, be they ordinances or school rules, are best enforced under two basic policies, 1) The rulees know that the rule will be enforced. 2) The ruler applies the rules equally to all rulees. (The rulees then test the limits of the ruler periodically to see if the rule is still in force.)
The CEO needs signals from the makers of the rules regarding whether to be proactive or reactive. That is, whether to take action on obvious violations or to wait for someone to file a complaint. Taken to the extreme, should a police officer wait for a citizen's complaint that someone is speeding? Of course not!
The Cedar Key Commission recently addressed the problem of late night noise. It is no longer necessary for there to be a citizen's complaint for enforcement of the noise ordinance. And, the noise problem seems to be abated.
If Cedar Key is to have the expense of a Code Enforcement Officer, the policies for enforcement should be clear. Be proactive and enforce the rules uniformly. | 