Code activist gets Peoria leaders' attention

To call Roland Hill persistent is an understatement. The 76-year-old Peoria resident sends faxes nearly every week to the city on code infractions he sees on his daily early-morning walks.

Hill's longstanding gripe about his deteriorating neighborhood earned him a meeting Monday with his councilwoman, Joan Evans, Peoria Police Chief Roy Minter Jr. and the code enforcement staff. The Police Department oversees code enforcement.

The outcome? "Not particularly positive or negative," says Hill, who walked into the meeting armed with photos of trucks allegedly parked illegally in residential streets.

"The message I got was they don't like me, they don't like the idea that I'm being aggressive toward them and complaining that they haven't been helpful in the past to address those issues," Hill said, after the meeting.

Evans said she plans to take up one issue Hill raised about whether the city was unevenly applying a city ordinance not allowing commercial trucks to park in residential neighborhoods.

Hill believes there's one intersection where it goes on illegally. The City Attorney's Office believes otherwise.

She also will see whether non-working streetlights can be replaced more promptly.

But Evans also urged Hill and others who feel code enforcement takes too long to show patience and understand that the city has limited resources.

Jay Davies, who oversees the city's code enforcement staff, said Hill has made it clear that he would like city officials to enforce code instead of educate residents.

But Davies said as a matter of policy, they go the education route.

"We use enforcement when necessary but our philosophy is that education is a reasonable approach," Davies said.

Since the new police chief came onboard, the department has made one change.

The language on the door hanger that code enforcement staff leaves for a violation has been tweaked to say "courtesy notice" instead of "code notice" in big bold letters. Davies said sometimes the notices were misinterpreted.

"We want to let residents know it's just a courtesy notice, that we've observed or gotten a complaint about, and to please address that," Davies said.

He said the police chief's intent is to see that the city is being fair and is working with the community.

Davies said for as many residents who agree with Hill's hard-hitting approach, there are just as many who say residents should be given time to take care of a violation.

"There are those who say they are unemployed or handicapped or have higher priorities - every situation has its nuances," Davies said.

He knows it's never going to be a win-win.

"Do we please everybody in every instance? I'm sure we don't," Davies added. "But we do strive to provide the best service possible."

Roland Hill, Messy Yard snitch

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