What qualifies as “junk” according to Mexico’s city code and how do they deal with it?

That very question was a topic of discussion at the Mexico City Council’s Nov. 24 and Dec. 8 meetings.

After recently adopting a number of ordinances that changed the city’s Nuisance Code and Dangerous Buildings Code, the city met with its attorney, prosecuting attorney and the municipal judge to ensure that they were taking the most practical approach to code enforcement.

“The city code references the international property maintenance code, but that gets to be tricky to follow whenever you’re working with the resident who does not necessarily speak code,” Deputy City Manager Drew Williford said.

It was determined that the existing code was hard for residents to follow, which made enforcement that much more difficult. As a result, city staff developed a new set of standard operating procedures.

Williford said the city outlined two key areas to focus on — streamlining code enforcement and improving the transparency for residents.

The council got its first look at the proposed changes on Nov. 24, starting with an outline of the estimated timeframe for the code enforcement standard operating procedures:

• Day 1: A courtesy notice will be provided.
• Day 8: A Certified Letter will be sent, hand-delivered or posted on-site. The letter must include a photo with the items circled in red and an accompanying list of all items.
• Day 15: A $100 ticket will be issued. A court appearance is required and a packet that includes the letter, photo and list of items will be sent to the Prosecuting Attorney.
• Day 45: Court will be held and the ticket will be enforced.
• Day 52: Code Enforcement will review the site and update photos and the list of items before a second ticket may be issued for $200.
• Day 82: Court will be held for the second time and the doubled ticket will be enforced.
• Day 89: Code Enforcement will review the site a second time and update photos and the list of items
• Day 90: A Certified Letter for a Notice of Abatement Hearing will be sent.
• Day 101: An abatement hearing will be held.
• Day 111: The city will obtain an administrative search warrant.
• Day 112: The nuisance will be abated using a contractor and the owner will receive a bill for the abatement. If the bill is not paid, a tax bill/lien will be placed on the property.

For grass, the estimated timeframe is only 37 days:

• Day 1: A courtesy notice will be provided.
• Day 8: A Certified Letter will be sent, hand-delivered or posted on-site. The letter must include a photo with the items circled in red and an accompanying list of all items.
• Day 15: A Certified Letter for a Notice of Abatement Hearing will be sent.
• Day 26: An abatement hearing will be held.
• Day 37: The grass will be mowed by a contractor and the owner will receive a bill for the abatement. If the bill is not paid, a tax bill/lien will be placed on the property.

Mexico City Code allows up to $500 per day in fines with the hopes of minimizing abatement and avoiding the courts.

“Our hope is to not abate anything,” Williford said. “Our hope is to have the property owner work with us so we can have them clean it up. We don’t want to have people in court and having, under poor circumstances, public safety and contractors showing up to anything.”