Jump in Enforcement Cases

East Hampton Town’s Public Safety Division reported last week that the Ordinance Enforcement Department had opened cases on 1,076 alleged code violations during the first half of 2015, up from 621 cases opened during the first six months of 2014.

According to Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell, who commented in a press release, the department’s half-year report depicts a “notable increase in enforcement activity in the Town of East Hampton, highlighting the town’s continued improvement in enforcing the town code, to the benefit of all East Hampton residents.”

The number of cases that were resolved in the first half of this year also increased significantly over last year, according to the report, with a total of 818 resolved between January and June 30, 2015, compared to 331 during the same period last year.

Cases involving contractor license violations went from 42 last year to 94, and housing code violation cases increased to 139 from 84.

The number of issues resolved by voluntary compliance, once an alleged code violation was pointed out by town officials, jumped to 421 during the first half of this year, versus 40 in the first two quarters of 2014.

“Code Enforcement has made significant strides to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their operation with support of the supervisor and town board. New reliance on improved technology, such as our online complaint form and vehicle laptop computers, has helped us solve cases more efficiently,” David Betts, the town’s public safety division administrator, said in the press release