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Who gets prosecuted?
Something that is frequently mentioned to officers, and sometimes used as a defense at hearing, is the issue of selective enforcement. People often ask why "the Muni lets other people get away with this but you're hammering me?"
Land Use Enforcement operates on a complaint basis - that is, we respond to complaints filed by citizens. So the "selection" of which violations to pursue is made by the community, not by zoning officers. We investigate every complaint received (unless there is already a case open on a property.) All complaints are entered into the Code Enforcement Tracking System, a secure database from which they cannot be erased. These procedures ensure that there is no "deliberate and intentional plan to discriminate based on an arbitrary or unjustifiable classification" - the standard set by the Alaska Supreme Court in Barber v. Municipality of Anchorage.
The only exceptions to the complaint process are violations discovered in a permit review, life-safety issues which an officer notices, and Operation Clean Sweep.
Another common defense is that "this has been here for 20 years, so why are you going after me now?"
The timing of enforcement actions is generally determined by the complaint process. A violation may have existed for many years simply because nobody complained about it. Neighbors may have assumed that the violation was "grandfathered in" or not worth the trouble to report. In any case, once a complaint is received, Land Use Enforcement will investigate and pursue a resolution.
If a landowner establishes nonconforming (grandfather) rights to a structure or use of land, or obtains a variance, Land Use Enforcement will not pursue action because the structure or use is not a violation of the code.
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