Reading officials say the city is entering a new era of proactive code enforcement with a surge in inspections, renewed focus on blighted properties and plans for better neighborhood-level accountability.
Speaking before City Council, David Barr, Reading’s newly appointed director of Community Development, offered an in-depth report on the city’s property inspection efforts.
Barr, who has been on the job a few weeks, praised the property maintenance team for exceeding 2024’s total inspections within the first half of this year. The city is on pace to perform 4,000 to 5,000 inspections in 2025, he said, up from just 1,600 last year.
“I hope you agree that these numbers represent a promising trend,” Barr said, noting the city is building its property maintenance division after the limitations imposed by 13 years under Act 47 state oversight.
Reading’s property maintenance division has 33 employees, including 17 housing inspectors and two health code inspectors, with 10 certified and more in training. While the department is fully staffed, Barr said about one-third of employees are relatively new, emphasizing the need for experience-building strategies.
Barr added that building confidence and decision-making among newer inspectors is also key.
One plan includes mimicking the police department’s successful neighborhood patrol model by assigning inspectors to consistent districts and encouraging on-foot sweeps and deeper community engagement.
“Let’s put somebody or teams of two perhaps walking around or driving around and finding these problems,” he said.
Inspectors walking the blocks would talk to residents and notice more exterior issues, Barr said, rather than waiting for a 311 complaint.
Among other services, the city’s 311 app allows users to report non-emergency issues with specific locations, including concerns about codes and other quality of life issues.
Tracking inspections
Barr said the city recently implemented new software to track inspections, violations and follow-ups. It replaces a legacy system that had gaps in recognizing overdue inspections, a flaw city officials acknowledged contributed to missed red flags at 501 N. Eighth St., where part of a wall recently collapsed.
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Records show the last inspections at that property occurred in 2019 and early 2020, with 26 deficiencies corrected by the final visit. But none of those issues involved structural concerns.
Because deterioration, such as water damage, can go unseen, what happened at the building on North Eight Street likely wasn’t visible at the time of the inspections, city Managing Director Jack Gombach said. He stressed the need for ongoing education on long-term maintenance, especially for older buildings.
Council responds
Council members voiced support for increased activity but emphasized the need for thoroughness and consistency, particularly when dealing with absentee-owned, vacant or blighted properties, which often trigger the most community complaints.
“The properties that are vacant or have absent owners out of state, those are the ones that seem to fall by the wayside and continue to decline,” Councilman O. Christopher Miller.
And it doesn’t happen overnight, he said.
“We need to act before they become dangerous,” Miller said.
Council President Donna Reed suggested reviving joint sweeps, where council members and inspectors walk neighborhoods together. Others proposed using youth programs or working with the Office of Aging to assist residents unable to maintain properties.
Councilman Jaime Baez raised concerns about inconsistent follow-through. He cited a recent 311 request where only part of a property’s overgrown grass was addressed, prompting a second complaint just feet away from the first.
“If an inspector is already at the site, why not address everything in that area?” Baez asked.
Rudy Estrada, city property maintenance division manager, said that’s the goal but acknowledged inspectors are often stretched. Estrada suggested assigning staff exclusively by district to build familiarity and follow-up capacity.
“We want to return to properties after 10 days to make sure violations were corrected,” he said.
Council also asked about enforcement of more routine issues, such as trash bins left out too long or uncut lawns. Estrada explained that first-time offenders typically receive warnings in the form of door hangers. If problems persist, they escalate to fines, and in some cases, emergency work orders.
“If we can’t reach the owner and the issue becomes a health risk or attracts dumping, we call in a contractor to clean it up,” Estrada said.
Long view
Barr said he’s exploring long-term strategies, including land banking, conservatorship, voluntary deed transfers and eminent domain, to take control of the city’s most deteriorated properties.
Up to 500 blighted buildings are on the verge of becoming a high risk, he said, but with the right tools and support, the city can tackle the problem.
“There are challenges in dealing with this problem,” Barr said, “and it is something I intend to focus on with the Reading Redevelopment Authority. The city is ready to go on offense on this problem and wants to work with the RRA to aggressively pursue appropriate steps to condemn and land bank the long standing and worst examples.”
To increase capacity, the city plans to continue working with outside inspection firms for building plan reviews, freeing city staff to focus on code enforcement, Barr said. Officials also hope to involve council in community education and public outreach, especially in high-risk areas.
Source: Berkshire mont