There are neighborhoods where the sound of a lawn mower cranking on a Saturday morning sets off a chain reaction up and down on the street, a kind of unspoken peer pressure dynamic that helps keep neighborhoods tidy, appealing, perhaps even safe.

All it takes is one badly neglected property to ruin the appearance of the street. It can be not only a blemish on the neighborhood aesthetics, but a public health issue as well.

That is likely what the Mississippi Legislature had in mind in 2022 when it amended section two of Mississippi Code § 21-19-11 to allow local governments to expedite clean-up of neglected properties. Prior to the update, the legal requirements involved in having properties cleaned-up could go on for weeks, sometimes months, with the condition of the property already in violation continuing to deteriorate.

Now, the clean-up process on a property found in violation can begin much sooner. The city of Starkville is the first local government to adopt the new code process.

Maintaining property is not always easy. Property owners get sick and cannot tend to their property. Some property owners die and possession of the property (and responsibility for its condition) changes hands slowly. In some cases, repairs to damaged property are more costly than the property owner can afford. These are just a few situations where the condition of a property can decline even when the property owner has good intentions. Typically, local governments are sensitive to these situations.

Fortunately, the updated code is narrowly defined to apply only to properties which don’t need much attention to put in order.

Normally when a code enforcement officer identifies a neglected property, the city gives the property owner a two-week notice that the board will hold a public hearing to determine whether the property can be declared as a menace to public health and safety. If the property is deemed to be a public menace, the city must then wait 10 more days before taking action

The updated code makes the process quicker. Depending on the size of the property and the estimated cost of clean-up, the process can be completed and clean-up initiated from 7 to 10 days. No one likes living next to a neglected property, especially when maintaining that property requires little time or expense.

Those who take seriously the responsibility for maintaining their property cannot force a neighbor to comply, and when that unspoken peer pressure doesn’t work, there is little they can do. They turn to their local government to hold those property owners to an acceptable standard, for the benefit of everyone.

Enforcing the new code is a reasonable way to make sure these situations are resolved in a timely manner.

We encourage other communities to follow Starkville’s lead in using this accelerated option as their primary method of addressing small-scale blight.

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.