Messy Yard? Tall Grass? A Proposed Nashville Law Could Send You To Code-Violator School

Some Metro Council members think Nashville needs a new way to pressure people who won’t comply with city codes. A proposal up for its first vote tonight calls for the city to establish a “codes offender school” for repeat violators of property standards.

Co-sponsor Fabian Bedne says it could help some stubborn offenders understand how their violations affect the safety of others.

“Having lots of debris in your yard, for example, draws vermin, which then goes to the neighbor’s house. So if you keep your house full of trash and then there are rats in your house that creates a toxic environment for you and also for your neighbor,” Bedne said.

Right now, codes violators are given a warning with 30 days to fix the problem, followed by a citation and a court hearing. Co-sponsor Karen Johnson said that in some cases, the current penalties available to judges aren’t enough to enforce the codes. The proposed “codes offender school” offers judges an additional tool.

“It’s been a revolving door for repeat offenders,” Johnson said. “They’ll say they’re going to correct an issue, and then it’s an issue again a week later.”

Bedne says some landlords even work the fines into their budgets rather than comply.

“Many times people just don’t understand why codes are there,” he said. “They think it’s an arbitrary guideline set up by some crazy bureaucrat. But in reality, codes are there to protect people.”

Bedne added that his vision would look similar to traffic school, but for people who’ve gotten codes violations instead of speeding tickets. Offenders would also have to pay to attend.