BIDDEFORD — On Tuesday, the Biddeford City Council gave final approval to an amendment to discourage nuisance behavior at commercial properties by holding business owners accountable.
The amendment is added to an ordinance that holds owners of residential rental property accountable for disorderly conduct that occurs in or near their buildings by their tenants or guests of tenants.
The so-called disorderly conduct ordinance has been “highly successful,” said Police Chief Roger Beaupre.
The addition to the measure deals with nuisance behavior. It applies to all businesses, except industrial, manufacturing, and agricultural and food processing facilities.
A property can become a nuisance property if police are called to respond to a business at least three times within 30 days for issues such as waste disposal violations, parking violations near the premises by tenants or guests, and behavior by tenants or visitors that unreasonably disturb or affect the ability of nearby residents or businesses to use their property in a reasonable way, as well as violations including disorderly conduct and disturbance of the peace.
Like the requirements under the ordinance for disorderly houses, the additions to the measure require that owners or representatives of businesses that are deemed nuisance properties meet with police to come up with a plan to abate the problem behaviors.
The ordinance “forces” business owners or their representatives to the table to resolve problems, said Beaupre.
Without this local ordinance, businesses only have an incentive to work with police when their liquor license comes up for renewal, he said. Those who don’t have a liquor license don’t have any incentive to work with police on nuisance behavior emanating from their business.
Other than giving businesses this incentive, the ordinance doesn’t impose any new rules, said Beaupre. The nuisance behavior is already covered under existing laws.
“There’s already stuff on the books to force (business owners) to the table if they have a liquor license,” said Council President John McCurry, who voted against the measure. “We don’t need another law.”
“This is about all businesses,” said Councilor Michael Ready, who supported the measure. It’s about “bringing the owner to the table to be part of the solution.”
Beaupre said he hopes the nuisance property additions to the ordinance will be just as successful as the disorderly housing portion of the measure.
As a result of the police department working with property owners, he told the council in February, “We’ve forged better relations between us and the landlords.”
In addition, said Beaupre, “None of them have been taken to court and none have paid a fine.”
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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