Cape may enact chronic-nuisance law that would penalize property owners

The Cape Girardeau City Council may enact a chronic nuisance law that would penalize property owners who allow criminal activity and other nuisances to occur.

Alex McElroy, director of development services for the city, said the proposal would allow the city to issue a notice to the owner of any property where nuisances have occurred at least three times during a 12-month period.

In a case involving distribution or manufacture of illegal drugs, the ordinance would apply after one incident, McElroy said.

The property owner would have 15 days to eliminate the nuisance. The city's nuisance abatement officer then would hold a hearing. If the situation is not resolved, the city could close that house for a period of up to a year, McElroy said.

In that case, the house could not be occupied either as rental property or as a homeowner's residence, city officials said.

City officials said city nuisances include not only criminal activity but such things as littering, noise and unruly drinking parties.

Police chief Wes Blair said he believes a chronic-nuisance ordinance "will actually help us quite a bit" in addressing neighborhood nuisances.

Several council members expressed support for the idea during a study session Monday at the Shawnee Park Center before the council's regular meeting.

"That is what we have been asking for," Mayor Harry Rediger said.

Rediger advised the city staff to present the proposed ordinance to the council at an upcoming meeting.

Ward 4 Councilman Robbie Guard said, "I think this can allow us to monitor landlords that are not up to snuff."

McElroy said after the study session the measure would force landlords to kick out nuisance tenants or face the possibility of shutting down the rental property.

"The onus should be on them," he said.

City attorney Eric Cunningham said such an ordinance would meet due-process requirements. The property owner in nuisance cases could appeal the abatement officer's decision to circuit court as spelled out in state law.

At the regular meeting after the study session, the council approved a new agreement with the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce that will change oversight of the Convention and Visitors Bureau under a contract with the city.

The agreement scraps the current system of two advisory boards and replaces it with a six-member Convention and Visitors Bureau executive board that will have equal representation from the city and the chamber.

Both the city manager and the chamber president would automatically serve on the board. The council would select the other two city representatives and the chamber would choose its other two representatives.

City manager Scott Meyer said the new oversight structure is "cleaner" and is patterned after how the Show Me Center and River Campus advisory boards operate.

Council members approved the agreement without voicing any comment.

In other action, the council approved an agreement with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for a grant that will fund 92 percent of the nearly $325,000 cost of buying an aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle for the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. The city will pay the remaining $24,582 of the expense, officials said.

The manufacturer has a year to produce and deliver the emergency vehicle.

The council also heard from representatives of the Stop Needless Acts of Violence Please, or SNAP, organization, a neighborhood group formed to address the crime and violence on the city's south side.

"We have got to get kids off the streets," said SNAP representative Kaye Hood. There are few streetlights and no sidewalks in some south-side neighborhoods, Hood told the council.

"Until we start cleaning up the community, we will not stop the violence," she said.

Felice Roberson, who started SNAP after her son was slain on South Fredrick Street in November last year, said residents are concerned about the violence.

"People are still afraid in the neighborhood," she said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

835 S. West End Blvd., Cape Girardeau, Mo.