The town of Merrillville is looking to beef up its code enforcement efforts. The town council Tuesday passed a series of seven ordinances, covering a range of issues.
Among other things, they discourage individuals from parking in front of mailboxes or in front yards, specify what kinds of vehicles they shouldn't park in front yards, ban basketball hoops from town streets and provide standards for boarding up vacant buildings.
Council President Rick Bella said the goal is to clean up the town. "And these new ordinances will give us the teeth we need to enforce those types of cleanups and keep properties looking proper, which actually helps all of our property values," Bella said.
But some felt the ordinances could pose challenges. Resident Sabine Miller worried that residents are running out of places to legally park, especially if they live on a snow route.
"They can't just park in somebody else's driveway. I think we are still having a gap between when the snow falls and they can't park in the street, as opposed to no parking in the yards, and I think that could be really unfair to some people," Miller told council members.
Another change is that anyone placing a donation drop box outside a business will now have to get a permit from the town. Town Attorney Joe Svetanoff said there have been issues with overflowing donation boxes, sometimes being placed without a business's permission.
"What we're trying to do is we're trying to make sure than any and all drop boxes that are dropped throughout the town — first of all to get the permission of the owner of the real estate itself and, secondly, we know who owns them, in case we need to have them removed for any reason," Svetanoff explained.
Another ordinance reiterates that residents can't keep more than three animals in any home that isn't in an agricultural zone and further clarifies what counts as an animal.
