Livingston Passes Abandoned Vehicle Code

The Livingston Board of Aldermen and Mayor passed the second reading of the revised abandoned vehicle maintenance code.

Mayor Curtis Hayes said a property maintenance advisory board will be created to enforce the code.

The Livingston Board of Aldermen and Mayor voted to pass the amended abandoned vehicle ordinance.

“I am going to have the task of putting a panel together to review the complaints of the property maintenance codes,” Hayes said. “I think that is the next step.”

The abandoned vehicle code seeks to eliminate untagged junk motor vehicles from private and public property. The board held a public hearing regarding the code on Monday.

Hayes said he was happy with the attendance of the hearing.

“This is what government is all about. This is democracy at its best. The public certainly has a right to [voice] their opinions. And I respect them and respect them all,” Hayes said. “You know, the city council has got a tough job to do. And they have to put everybody’s interest first.”

Resident Olivia Franklin was one of seven people to speak up against the ordinance.

“So many people have come up to me and talked to me and wanted me to stand up for them too. Because a lot of people don’t have someone to stand for them,” Franklin said. “And they all said to me, ‘When it’s on people’s land and you take it off it is the same as stealing. and I agree with them.”

Hayes said that despite a large amount of opposition, he felt the board made the right decision.

“I thought that there were some valid points tonight, both ways,” Hayes said. “But I believe in the end the council felt like it was time that we had a form of property maintenance that we could enforce and that we can live with.”

Hayes said the city previously had an abandoned vehicle code on file, but it was rarely enforced.

Alderman Kelly Coleman proposed several amendments to the ordinance before it was passed. Under the amendments, a vehicle must be in violation for 60 days before the city can enforce the code. The amended code allows the vehicles to remain on the private property as long as they are considered out of sight.

Those in violation of the code will have 30 days to correct the incident instead of 48 hours.