Shrewsbury Mayor Promises Code Crackdown

Owners of poorly maintained properties in Shrewsbury beware: the city plans to crack down on code violations at residences and businesses.

At Tuesday’s Board of Aldermen meeting, Mayor Felicity Buckley said she would be taking a tougher stance than previous city administrations. Buckley talked about the issue in response to several residents who complained about a property on Nottingham Avenue.

According to the residents, the property, located at 7233 Nottingham Ave., has been poorly kept up for years, despite repeated complaints.

Property owners who fail to keep up with the city code can be fined $500, but Buckley said the house on Nottingham had never been fined.

“I don’t want to add to anybody’s hardship on one hand,” resident Barb Dressler said of the fine. “On the other, if that’s what it takes to make [the property owners] move, then that needs to happen.”

Buckley responded because of the property’s history, she decided to get personally involved and she called the owners.

“I wanted to give them the heads up that I was aware that for years now they have been getting warnings, then they kind of address it and then they don’t keep it up, and that that was going to change,” she said.

In her first term as mayor, Buckley said one of the things she has learned since taking office is how spotty the city’s code enforcement has been. She called it “a matter of tradition” that she intends to end.

“[Director of Administration] Jonathon Greever and I have talked about this and said, ‘We have to turn this over,’” Buckley said.

For now, the mayor’s phone call has resulted in the overgrown grass and trees at the house on Nottingham being pared back. Resident Patrice Roussa said she appreciated the effort but remained skeptical that the reoccurring eyesore would ever be permanently cleaned up.

“I just think it’s going to continue,” she said.