Police Target Code Violations Across City

Residents with an inoperable car parked in the driveway, or who left their business vehicle parked in the street likely received a warning letter from the city of St. Peters recently.

The police department earlier this summer completed a city-wide sweep looking for violations of vehicle codes. Residents who had a violation were mailed a warning letter Aug. 12 and asked to come into compliance.

St. Peters Police Officer Melissa Doss said the department conducts these proactive sweeps periodically; the last one was four or five years ago.

Officers drive every street of every neighborhood and when they see violations, fill out a form. The ordinance officer then checks back to see if the problems have been corrected; if they haven't he sends another warning letter, Doss said.

Residents have ample opportunity to correct the violation, she added.
Still, at least one resident has questioned the tactic and the need to ticket vehicles that are in good condition sitting in driveways, but are not licensed.

Patch reader Aaron Heger posted a concern about the ordinance on the Patch boards. He wrote that his truck had been cited because he hadn't had time to fix the problem that prevented it from passing a safety inspection.
"I'm astounded that we, as a society, can nit pick at things like this, with all the other problems we face.

So, the city wants me to junk my truck because I can't fix it right away, which will cause me to incur a much higher expense later down the road, when I have to buy another truck. 

Am I completely out of line by thinking I should be allowed a little more discretion over the private property that I own?" Heger wrote.
Doss said often people don't think about what would happen if every resident had a derelict vehicle.

"People would be up in arms," she said. "If every single person had an RV in their yard, our property values would drop dramatically. The people who are complaining are the ones who want to be the only ones who would have a derelict vehicle."

Normally, the Police Department has one officer assigned to ordinance enforcement full time, Doss said. She said he typically has less than 100 vehicle ordinance violations in a year.

If residents spot violations, concerns can be reported to the Citizen Action Center at (636) 477-6600. Callers will receive a response of some kind withing 72 hours and can track the progress on the complaint.

Seven Tips to Avoid an Ordinance Violation in St. Peters