Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Chair Dexter Golden brought up discussion at April’s Metro Council meeting regarding initiating “Cease-and-Desist” actions. P&Z decided at their last meeting to bring the issue to the council. Presently, should any building infractions occur, warning letters are sent out by the Planning Administrator Christine Pyrdum. Ms. Pyrdum told the council that these letters are frequently ignored. Presently there are no enforcement steps set out, though there is provision for fining violators $50 a day until the infractions are corrected.

There followed a lengthy discussion about what steps could be taken. County Attorney Bill Rieder told the council that a well worded warning letter would have the same weight as a ceaseand- desist order, and could be followed up with court action. Should the county go ahead with a cease-anddesist order, they must be prepared to follow up with court action. There was concern by some council members that without a ceaseand- desist order, some builders would just pay the fines and keep working.

There was also discussion about enforcement of the orders. It would have to be decided who would police building permits, and enforce any cease-anddesist orders. The county does not have a building inspector, though there has been talk of hiring an inspector on an as-needed basis. Council member Sunny Rae Moorehead suggested increasing the fines for commercial and industrial builds. County Attorney Bill Rieder advised the council that the decisions on how to handle enforcement would have to be determined in an open public meeting.

After discussion, the council took a vote to have P&Z draft a more specific warning letter, a cease-anddesist order, and an enforcement plan, then bring those back to council for approval. The vote passed, with Shane Taylor, Sunny Rae Moorehead, and Douglas Carson voting “No.”