Mendota Heights Council Reviews Draft Commercial Property Maintenance Rules

Business owners in Mendota Heights may soon be subjected to specific standards for property maintenance.

Mendota Heights ordinances do not include rules for maintenance of commercial property like they do for residential property. While nuisance ordinances would apply in certain cases, the city council determined in 2011 that development of a commercial property-specific ordinance was needed.

The council reviewed a draft of the ordinance Wednesday night. 

“It isn’t meant to be onerous, but is meant to be a tool that we can use to maintain (standards),” said Mayor Sandra Krebsbach.

Krebsbach has cited the use of plywood used to cover a broken window for an extended period of time as an example of something that should not be allowed.

The council will review a second draft at their next meeting Feb. 21 before sending it back to the planning commission for review in March.

There will likely be a delay between passage of a final ordinance and implementation of the standards, said Grittman.

The codes are intended to establish “a requirement that commercial and industrial property must keep their buildings and grounds in reasonably good condition to avoid becoming a depressing influence on neighborhood property values,” according to a staff document provided for the review.

The language for the draft was taken from the International Property Maintenance Code, as well as similar ordinances in other cities, in particular Eagan and Chanhassen, according to City Planner Steve Grittman.

Grittman said the ordinance has been tailored to Mendota Heights to specifically address examples that prompted the ordinance in the first place.

City council members said they want to notify business owners of the process underway before final passage. The draft was reviewed by the planning commission in November. No public feedback was received. 

Grittman estimated that about 5 percent of commercial properties do not meet the proposed standards.