Strengthening the city’s code enforcement was a featured topic as councilmembers considered potential changes to Wylie’s code of ordinances.

The changes were presented by Community Services Director Jasen Haskins during the Tuesday, Nov. 8, council meeting.

Haskins said the main changes to code enforcement would include a greater ability to take action against repeat offenders, give code enforcement officers more discretion when issuing citations and simplify liens issued by the city. In the case of repeat offenders, the amendments would allow the city to correct a code violation and bill the property owner for the expense, he added.

As it pertains to giving code enforcement officers more discretion, they could elect to issue warnings in lieu of a citation, similar to a police officer, in certain situations, said Haskins.

Councilmembers also received a presentation on changes to the city’s donation box policy, which includes guidelines for the size and appearance of them.

According to the amended ordinance, donation boxes could not be any larger than 10 feet in width, 12 feet in depth and 7 feet in height.

While councilmember Dave Strang was in favor of the changes, he voiced his support for manned donation boxes because he thinks that helps mitigate potential risks for the sites to become messy.

“People come in after hours when they think nobody is around and they dump all matter of things next to these things,” Strang said. 

Haskins said some of the language of the ordinance should help mitigate some of Strang’s concerns.

Another change would be treating shopping centers as one contiguous lot for the purpose of having a donation box.

“In my research, I saw some places say one per multiple platted lots or one per 5 acres,” Haskins said. 

Mayor Matthew Porter said he would favor tying any future donation box restrictions to the size of lots, which could allow for multiple sites within a shopping center.

For the full story, see the Nov. 16 issue of The Wylie News.