The Iowa League of Cities is hosting its annual Nuisance Abatement Conference next week in Mason City.
The conference is a way for city officials to learn about the different aspects of nuisance abatement from effective city codes to dealing with abandoned properties. Mickey Shields is the deputy director of the Iowa League of Cities and tells RadioOnTheGo News the first conference was held in 2018 after hearing from city officials from rural communities and large cities on how to deal with nuisance property violations.
“So that’s really where the conference came out of was trying to provide our membership an opportunity to learn more about nuisance abatement in all sorts of ways. What kind of city codes they should have, what kind of enforcement procedures work the best, how to proactively work with your neighbors and your property owners to stay ahead of problems, just the whole run of it. And so the conference has been very successful. Every year we’ve had it. We’ve had jam packed rooms, which again, it’s not the most exciting topic in the world just because it’s usually got a negative connotation around it, but on the other hand, it is really important. So we’ve been holding that conference every year and we’ll be doing that again. I’m sure we’ll have another full room and hopefully it’s a successful event.”
Shields says the topic of abandoned and vacant properties has been an increasing issue from cities large and small since the conference began.
“The more common issues with overgrown grass and weeds, those have been around forever, of course. And every city government would rather property owners always stay in compliance, but sometimes the grass grows quicker than you think it does. And you have to get that nasty letter from your city. But on the more challenging side of things are those dilapidated homes and buildings or fully abandoned homes and buildings, because they do present far more potential investment from your city government to deal with them in the hopes that by doing so, you can get it prepared for redevelopment and make it again an active property. So we’re seeing that all across the state. A lot of cities are struggling with that and just trying to find solutions to some of these problematic properties.”
The Iowa League of Cities’ Nuisance Abatement Conference is May 21st at the Music Main Square in Mason City. More information on the conference can be found at iowaleague.org.
