The City of Sequim plans to handle its nuisance issues differently after years of complaints.

Sequim city councilors approved an ordinance 6-1 on May 23, with Bob Lake opposed, that updates the city’s municipal code with harsher penalties to seek quicker compliance.

City Attorney Craig Ritchie said the current system works but they’ve experienced ongoing issues with repeat offenders.

“We’re finding more and more nuisances are not being fixed after gentle persuasion and encouragement,” he said.

Nuisances range from lingering vehicles parked incorrectly to piles of food and garbage that rats are running in and out of, he said.

The updated ordinance offers different levels of enforcement such as offering voluntary abatement between the resident and city through a written contract. If a resident is unresponsive, city staff could issue a notice and an order to abate, which could be $250 on the first day of the violation and up to $1,000 or 90 days in jail, or both, for the duration of non-compliance.

Residents in violation also can seek a review by the director of community development about the nuisance.

Previously, the city would seek compliance and connect a resident with a business or agency to work on an issue, Ritchie said.

Repeat offenders were issued a $100 administrative fee to recoup the city’s costs or sent to through the courts facing a maximum penalty of $1,000 or up to one year in jail.

With the new $250 per day penalty, Ritchie said most people want to avoid that amount even before one day.

City Manager Charlie Bush said the city continues its code enforcement based on complaints but if there is a safety issue, then it is more proactive.

“This (ordinance) will make us more effective with our actions,” he said. “We haven’t seen compliance with a small percentage and often deal with the same residents over and over.”

Ritchie said Sequim’s updated ordinance is essentially the same as the City of Port Angeles’ code.

Monday was the first time city councilors discussed the ordinance and Lake said he wanted to bring it back one more time so the public could have more time to comment on it.

No residents spoke on the issue at the public hearing.

County planning

Starting in 2017, the City of Sequim will join Forks, Port Angeles and Clallam County in reforming the Growth Management Steering Committee to update the Countywide Planning Policy from 1992.

Chris Hugo, Sequim’s director of community development, said he and city councilors and staff have been advocating for the committee to reform since he started in 2011.

Former mayor Candace Pratt sent a letter to Clallam County commissioners in 2014 aaking for the committee to reform.

Hugo said he felt the county and other cities were “missing an opportunity to stay current of the changing needs of the region.”

“We’ve already identified changes we’d make for housekeeping and/or to keep things current,” Hugo said. “We’ll start with that. The good part is that when we get policies current, we’ll have a regional group with periodic discussions about the region’s future dealing with water, climate change and things like that.”

Councilors Pratt and Ted Miller will represent the city on the committee.

Ritchie retirement set

City councilors and staff honored retiring City Attorney Craig Ritchie this week with a special resolution at the city council meeting on Monday and a luncheon on Tuesday.

Ritchie retires on June 3 after 24 years as the city’s attorney. City councilors appointed him as “City Attorney Emeritus” and they adorned themselves with bushy eyebrows similar to Ritchie’s unique characteristic while honoring him.

“It’s mostly been fun for me,” Ritchie said. “It’s not often you get paid to sue people.”

Reflecting on his tenure, he said he “always enjoyed the litigation.”

Some of his notable cases include working against two propositions to change the City of Sequim’s collective bargaining policies and working to reverse the Ratepayer’s Responsibility Act initiative from 1996, which would have required the city to receive a vote of the people before issuing revenue bonds. That act was reversed in the Court of Appeals in the Washington State Supreme Court in 2006. The city later issued bonds to help pay for construction of the Civic Center.

Following retirement, Ritchie said he plans to do some consulting, pro-bono work and lobbying along with hiking, sailing and work at home.

Kristina Nelson-Gross was announced in April as his replacement starting June 1.