By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
LAMBERTVILLE — Responding to citizens’ concerns, the City Council has increased the number of officials who may perform investigations into complaints of overcrowding.
Only Zoning Official and Fire Prevention Official John Barczyk was empowered to investigate complaints before the council made the change.
Now, in addition to Mr. Barczyk, police Director Bruce Cocuzza and Construction Official Ken Rogers are empowered to review complaints, Acting Clerk Cynthia Ege said.
Mr. Cocuzza’s and Mr. Rogers’ duties were expanded, according to Mayor David Del Vecchio. They will review complaints in addition to upholding their original duties.
The move comes in response to complaints from citizens in July about overcrowding, particularly in rentals housing immigrants. They wanted the council to make changes to more forcefully discourage the practice.
While the resulting investigation by the city failed to detect any new violations of the landlord ordinance that governs overcrowding, the complaints did serve as an impetus for the council to beef up the ordinance.
The council changed the penalties and also added Mr. Cocuzza and Mr. Rogers to the list of officials responsible for investigating. The council on Oct. 18 voted unanimously to approve the changes as an amendment to the landlord ordinance.
When the amendment was introduced in September, Mayor Del Vecchio said the purpose of the penalty changes was to encourage compliance. Compliance and enforcement are foremost, above the collection of fines, he said.
The new amendment calls for a range of fines from $100 to a maximum of $2,000, the statutory limit, according to Mayor Del Vecchio.
A landlord who is found to be in violation and garners a fine of more than $1,250 will be given 30 days to enact corrections. Following the 30-day period, the maximum of $2,000 may be imposed by the Municipal Court if corrections have not been made.
Landlords also are subject to a $250 fine for refusing entry to city officials who visit the premises to investigate complaints of overcrowding.

