The City of Biddeford has expanded its nuisance property ordinance to include commercial properties, and it aims to remedy nuisance behavior issues by holding business owners accountable.
Despite the backlash from business owners, this ordinance may prove helpful in taking care of problem behavior and patrons. Just like the rules that hold property owners responsible for their tenants in rental units, the goal is to stop the problems by creating an opportunity for property owners to talk to police about the problems and how they can be remedied, rather than just reprimanding and fining those property owners.
Police Chief Roger Beaupre said the ordinance has been “highly successful” so far, and it “forces” business owners or their representatives to the table to resolve problems.
Without the expansion of the ordinance, Beaupre said businesses would only have an incentive to work with police when their liquor license comes up for renewal, and those that don’t have a liquor license don’t have any incentive to work with police on nuisance behavior at all. Beaupre said the amendment doesn’t impose any new rules, it just expands the language to include commercial properties.
We hope this amendment will be as successful as the original ordinance.
Local landlords involved with cracking down on apartment buildings that were nuisances in the city had positive feedback for the city council in 2011. In an interview at the time, Russ Glidden of Gorham, who owned an apartment building on Bacon Street, told the Journal Tribune that he had a problem tenant in his building who was responsible for most of the issues at his property. He said he had trouble renting units in his building, and thanks to the ordinance, he was able to work with the police department and rid the building of the problem tenant.
Landlords who own buildings around Glidden’s property ”“ including Jeanne Jackson of Saco and Seth Harkness of Portland ”“ noted the positive change once the tenant was removed as well. Those who rented nearby and in the building also had good things to say about the change.
“It’s a lot quieter,” said Mike Killinger, a tenant who lived across the street from Glidden’s property. “I used to hear screaming out the window all the time. Police used to stop quite regularly.”
If this kind of positive outcome can come from police and commercial business owners who have repeat customers who are causing problems, then the ordinance will be a win-win for small, local businesses as well as the city as a whole.
No one likes to walk around the downtown when people are being indecent, yelling or fighting, and it’s not the image Biddeford wants to perpetuate with all of the good things happening within the city limits. So it’s time to clean up, and take care of problem behaviors at Biddeford businesses, to make it a great place to live, work and visit.
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Today’s editorial was written by City Editor Robyn Burnham Rousseau on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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