South Dakota city to scrap code enforcement crackdown

Applause rang out among residents at the city council meeting in Faith on Tuesday when the council voted to begin the process of rescinding a new code enforcement policy that has drawn the ire of some locals.

After weeks of negative feedback over a recent property code enforcement crackdown, the council voted to remove the International Property Maintenance Code from its ordinances. The first reading of the ordinance to rescind the code was approved, and it will take another affirmative vote and a few weeks to legally rescind the code.

The code, used by communities across the state as a guide for code enforcement, allows an enforcement officer to access land and dwellings of code scofflaws without permission in some circumstances. The Faith council said it would instead revert back to its local code enforcement rules that were in place before the code crackdown began this spring.

Mayor Glen Haines told the council and public that the city will provide copies of the property codes to all residents in an effort to educate them about the rules and the requirements that they abide by them.

“It’s up to the people now,” Haines told News Watch on Wednesday. “It’s what they wanted, so we’ll see what the people do.”

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