The City of Moultrie started enforcing the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) late last year and the enforcement generated opposition from local property owners.  The IPMC is not required by the State of Georgia and gives the local building inspectors complete control over your property maintenance whether you can afford it or not.  The code says, “The code official shall have the authority to render interpretations of this code and to adopt policies and procedures in order to clarify the application of its provisions.”

The inspections were supposed to be triggered when someone signed up for utilities or your utilities were cut off, but that didn’t happen.  They inspected some homes and required work to be done before utilities were connected, but turned power on with a phone call and no inspection for others. Some of the repairs that were required were taking down Christmas lights, peeling paint, and repairing screens before they would turn the power on. Enforcement over the last ten months has been inconsistent.

The IPMC code and enforcement was a topic at several City Council meetings. The initial coverage made it sound like it was the City versus the Landlords, but that’s not the case. They said they were going to enforce the IPMC Code on every land owner in the City. Property owners were concerned about the discriminating inspections and the fact that the City was not addressing hundreds of vacant houses and buildings that are in every neighborhood in town. The City put a moratorium on the IPMC code in May and appointed a committee to come up with compromises for enforcement. I was on the committee, and although everyone did not agree, a majority of the committee wanted the city to abandon the IPMC and enforce the state mandated codes.

The City Council will vote on enforcement of the IPMC tonight. I think the City Council is being misled by the city manager. He’s states that he doesn’t know the code, but is pushing IPMC. He keeps saying that the City needs the IPMC to put teeth in to tear down vacant houses, but the city attorney has said that it’s not necessary in two council meetings. This vote will impact everyone in the City of Moultrie. We all want to improve the properties in the City, and hope the Council will realize the best solution is to abandon the IPMC and act on some of the committee’s recommendations to partner with everyone to improve all properties in the City of Moultrie.

Demetrius Walker

Moultrie