Actively pursue code violations or wait for a neighbor to file a complaint?

That is a debate Jim Thorpe Borough Council is hoping to end by finding a happy medium between the two.

The borough’s code violation response is currently complaint driven, meaning someone has to report an issue, whether it be grass that is too high or a new swimming pool going in without a permit, before it’s investigated.

Some members of council, during a workshop Thursday night, said they would like to see more active enforcement.

“I’m not a big fan of the system now that pits neighbor against neighbor,” Councilman Michael Rivkin said. “Right now a neighbor knows if someone comes knocking on his door that it was the person living next to them that called it in. I’m in favor of a more level handed enforcement system.”

Jim Thorpe currently contracts with Bureau Veritas for building code and zoning services, but they do not contract with the company to actively look for violations.

If the municipality chooses to go that route, Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said, the complication comes in budgeting.

“You don’t know how much follow up time, or how much court time, they are going to need so it becomes hard to predict financially where you’re going to be at,” Sterner said. “We can check with (Bureau Veritas) and see if they do this for any other municipalities and what the dollar figure looks like.”

Some neighboring municipalities are having similar discussions. Penn Forest Township supervisors, while debating short-term rental issues this week, said the township is adding a code enforcement officer whose job will include reviewing violations submitted through the website.

In Jim Thorpe, Councilman Michael Yeastedt said, one of the major issues is work being completed without the proper documentation.

“We have an ongoing problem with people not getting permits,” Yeastedt said. “What we need to do is sit down and determine how many hours a week we want to dedicate to going out and look for these violations.”

Like Rivkin, Councilman Jay Miller is not in favor of a neighbor reporting neighbor system.

“If I have to live to next to someone, I wouldn’t want to turn them in,” Miller said. “In a town this old, that’s a can of worms you don’t want to open up. But I do think we need to look at something going forward to make sure issues are getting addressed.”

Thursday’s discussion isn’t the first time a code crackdown has been brought to the forefront in Jim Thorpe. In October 2020, council suggested having Lyle Augustine, who did its nuisance and health inspections, also spend several hours a week checking for property owners who are doing work without the proper permits.

“We have some solid citizens who are doing everything right and getting their permits, and then we have those who are not, and I just don’t feel like we have any recourse for that at this time,” Yeastedt said at the time.

Should council take action on a more proactive approach to code violations, Rivkin said it would need to do so by walking a fine line.

“We don’t want to run someone out of town because we’re getting like California and going after people for watering a flower during a water restriction,” he said.