City gives noisy neighbors special days in court
In January, Charleston, S.C., convened the first sessions of its Livability Court, which separates cases regarding violations of municipal quality-of-life ordinances from criminal cases. Today, Charleston residents are filing “livability suits” for nuisances such as barking dogs and unkempt lawns. The court, which meets twice a month, currently schedules about 20 to 30 cases per session. Designed to improve the enforcement of quality-of-life ordinances in the city, Livability Court was created by seven-term Mayor Joe Riley, who recently talked with American City & County about the court’s purpose.
Q: How did the idea for the Livability Court develop?
A: The city of Charleston is an old and densely occupied city. We have business districts with apartments above the businesses and neighborhoods that run right up to business areas. We have bustling colleges and older neighborhoods. It’s a very diverse, lively, healthy city, and with that comes the requirement and challenge to make sure that all of those [entities can exist] in the same place and with a good quality of life.
A lot of the violations of city codes and ordinances [concerning] noise, litter, building repair and animal control can affect the quality of life of a neighborhood. Yet, if you take someone to court for violation of one of those kinds of ordinances, and, in the same court, more serious criminal offenses are being considered, then those quality-of-life or livability violations comparatively seem less consequential. Our belief was that, if we had a section of court that only dealt with those matters, then they could be given more serious consideration.
Q: So before you created the livability court, all the cases were just sprinkled in with other cases?
A: That’s right. They would be in a session of court where they might have just had an aggravated assault case or a drug case. If you haven’t kept your house up, you’re not a hardened criminal, but you’ve got to do better. [In livability court], we’ve got one police officer who presents all of these cases that, individually, perhaps aren’t that serious, but, in terms of collective livability of a neighborhood, they are.
Q: What kinds of violations come before the court?
A: Allowing buildings to become substandard or violating city code requirements; upkeep of yards or the abandonment of vehicles; animal control — from barking dogs to dogs running loose; any type of noise violations. The fact that Charleston has been successful at reclaiming its inner city for diverse uses, but particularly for residential use, has given us greater responsibility to make sure that these laws are obeyed.
Q: Do you expect the number of cases will change as a result of creating a special court for them?
A: We actually think that, over time, the number of cases will diminish because the enforcement [of the ordinances will] improve.