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The Mount Clemens City Commission met on May 5 and approved the first reading of amendments to the blight and animal control ordinances.
Photo by Dean Vaglia
MOUNT CLEMENS — At its May 5 meeting, the Mount Clemens City Commission voted to approve the first reading of amendments to the city’s blight and animal control ordinances.
Achieving full support during its introductory reading, the amendments bring rental condition disputes under the purview of the Administrative Hearings Bureau and overhaul the city’s animal control ordinance.
“I know this was in our strategic plan, but I’m glad to see that we’re putting rental dwellings and units as part of our AHB now, so that way we can hopefully expedite these complaints and have an impact on the quality of and controlling our rental population in the city,” Mount Clemens Mayor Laura Kropp said.
The Administrative Hearings Bureau is the city’s venue for hearing and administrating blight and other ordinance violations. Formed in 2023, the bureau is intended to be a faster way to resolve violations without needing to get courts involved.
Changes to the animal control ordinance include updates to terms and definitions, outlining requirements for owners and removing sections 14-16.
Commissioner Laura Fournier praised the changes to the animal control ordinance for their detail and for codifying things that were “implied by the previous ordinance but not necessarily stated.” Commissioner Erik Rick asked about the decision to reduce the maximum animal impoundment time from five days to four, which City Manager Gregg Shipman was a recommendation from animal control officers. Shipman also answered a question from Fournier about where the city takes impounded animals. The city has a state-certified kennel in its Department of Public Works building.
“(Macomb County Animal Control) quit taking them. That’s why we have the state-certified shelter,” Shipman said.
Kropp said the decision to review the animal control ordinance occurred before an April 12 video allegedly showing misconduct by an animal control officer was posted.
“We asked for this animal control ordinance to be looked at and updated long before the animal control incident that happened within the city,” Kropp said. “I just want that to be clear that these were done well before that and that this body was trying to be proactive, and so was our administration, to make some changes to animal control before the incident.”
The ordinance is set to be adopted on Monday, May 19.
Lawn enforcement
In his report to the commission, Shipman said code enforcement had begun identifying properties with grass or weeds 8 inches or taller.
The city may have a contractor cut those lawns at a cost of $150 per residential lot and $200 per commercial lot. Monitoring will continue through Nov. 3.
