r/TrinidadColorado

TO ALL PROPERTY OWNERS, LESSEES OR OCCUPANTS IN THE CITY OF TRINIDAD

You are hereby notified that it is your duty to cut and remove all weeds, grass, brush, volunteer growth of bushes and herbaceous plants, and other vegetation in excess of six inches (6") in height from your property, on or along any street or roadway adjoining your property, between the property line and curb line thereof, and on or along any alley adjoining the same between the property line and the center of such alley, and to keep said growth below six inches (6") at all times. If cutting and removing is not done, the work may be done under the order of the City Manager and costs thereof, together with an administrative fee of $500.00, will be charged to said property. In default of cutting and removing, the owners, lessees, or occupants of said property will be subject to a maximum fine of $300 per day or imprisonment of not more than ninety (90) days, or both, upon conviction. Failure to comply may result in immediate citation.

It is your further duty to ensure that junk does not accumulate on your property. Junk accumulation constitutes a nuisance. Should it become necessary for the City to abate the nuisance, the owner of the property will incur all costs associated with the removal of the junk together with a $1,000.00 administrative fee. A violation of this requirement subjects the property owner to a $300 per day maximum fine in addition to the aforementioned costs.

This is one of my least favorite parts of Trinidad. I agree that our city should be maintained and the natural beauty of Trinidad kept up. There are, however, some nuances to this municipal code.

1. The municipal code enforcement officer is NOT required to make contact in person or over the phone with the recipient of the complaint. All they are required to do is leave a notice of violation on your door. They aren't even required tape it to the door. Simply sliding into a crack is enough for them to comply with the code. Most outside doors are weather sealed and the notice will not slide all the way in.

2. Being that they are not required to make contact, they don't ask if the owner is disabled, elderly, at risk adult, unaware of the code or another underlying problem.

3. The companies they refer you to for assistance curing the violation are, of course, preferred contractors who, of coarse, charge as much as possible. There's no assistance program or volunteer list to help people in need.

4. I raised these issues with both Tim Peters and Cy Michaels. To the best of my knowledge they have not been addressed.

In May of 2023 three of my neighbors were served notices of violation. All three are elderly. One had just had knee and hip surgery. Another was scheduled to get gal bladder surgery. The third had just come from the hospital from a fall.

I became aware an issue because the closest one to me was served FOR HER NEIGHBOR'S lawn. She called had the man return and she was told to contact her neighbor to resolve the notice. That's ridiculous but she did and it got taken care of.

At this point I thought I should check my other neighbors. In fact another had been served and his son's were coming to mow.

I checked with the third neighbor, who had knee and hip surgery. He didn't know if he had because he, at the time, was not able to check when people come to the front door. After checking the door and looking around the property I found a notice buried in leaves. He was 1 day away from fines accumulating. I took it upon myself to mow and call the city.

This year's public notice on Facebook doesn't say but you are fined $300 a day for 20 day. At that point they file a lien. Once they have a court order they call the sheriff and have you evicted. They have tried repeatedly to do this to the Opera House, if you think they wouldn't do it to you you're gravely mistaken.