An interesting concept. A Livability Court in Charleston, S.C. Maybe more cities could do more about quality of life and public space.
================================================= Where the Bench Orders Some Southern Comfort 01/29/2002 The New York Times c. 2002 New York Times Company CHARLESTON, S.C., Jan. 28 -- Philip C. Inwood showed up for Livability Court this morning looking more than a little bleary. It was little wonder. Mr. Inwood said he had not slept soundly for nearly two years, thanks to the incessant barking of his neighbor's Rottweiler, Trigger. It was bad enough before his baby was born, when Mr. Inwood turned to sleeping pills for relief. Now, with the baby awakening Mr. Inwood and his wife every few hours, Trigger's boisterous behavior has become intolerable. ''With the baby,'' Mr. Inwood explained, ''when you do sleep, you really don't want to be woken up.'' Police and animal control officers have visited Mr. Inwood's neighbor more than a dozen times, and Mr. Inwood has pressed his complaint twice before in Municipal Court. But he received no satisfaction until today, when Judge Michael A. Molony ordered Trigger removed for at least 30 days. ''It's fantastic,'' exulted Mr. Inwood, an artist. ''It's great to have this stuff taken seriously. The first two times I went to court felt like I was wasting their time, that I was being a nuisance.'' That is precisely the premise behind the Livability Court, a newly created division of Municipal Court that convenes twice a month and held its second session today. In this grand Southern city of countless charms, where quality of life has long been the featured attraction in a nearly $4 billion tourism industry, Judge Molony and his new court hope to restore the city's civility by quieting the dogs, mowing the underbrush and fining the scofflaws. No new ordinances have been enacted to enhance the livability of Charleston, where the downtown historic district is both a desirable residential area and an extended college campus. But by segregating cases against housing code violators, unscrupulous tour operators, noisemakers, pet owners and parking violators, the city hopes to send the message that it definitely is sweating the small stuff. ''People here are entitled to the peace and quiet and enjoyment of a city that has the unique charm and character of Charleston,'' said Judge Molony, 51, a Charleston native. ''And by the mayor creating this court, it has sent a message to people that if you violate the law, the enforcement's going to be there.'' Court officials say that was not always so. Violators of quality-of-life ordinances were typically slapped on the wrist, with little worry that the police would follow up on a judge's orders. For many, periodic fines were simply a cost of doing business. ''When that violation came to Municipal Court, it might have been right after the court handled an assault and battery or a violent domestic matter,'' Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said. ''And so with the issue of a dilapidated house or somebody who chronically doesn't keep their yard tidy, it might have been hard to get the traction that the issue deserves.'' The Livability Court has a police officer assigned to do nothing but enforce the judge's orders, like checking to see that a resident has patched the fence where the dog escaped. Charleston's Livability Court sits at the intersection of a number of law enforcement trends. In many places, most notably New York City, officials have subscribed to the ''broken windows'' approach to policing, which holds that doing nothing about code violations and small infractions -- like broken windows -- will nurture an atmosphere of lawlessness if left unaddressed. Cities are also turning to ''problem solving'' courts, which segregate particular offenses like teenage smoking or drunken driving for special attention. Though modeled on a similar court in Durham, N.C., the Livability Court is unusual, like Charleston itself. The historic district, built from the 1680's through the 1880's, is a throwback in time, with its cobblestone lanes, pastel facades and pealing church bells. In Charleston, unlike most other American cities, people actually live, work, play and sightsee in the same quarter, and that has made for inevitable tensions. In ruling today on the case of a tour operator who illegally stopped his bus along a downtown curb, Judge Molony made it clear that the law sided with the residents. ''While we all want tourism,'' he said, ''residential activity comes ahead of commercial activity.'' The judge gave the bus driver, Earl Copeland, a 30-day sentence and a $200 fine, both suspended, and a stern lecture. ''You might be inconveniencing somebody pulling out of a driveway,'' the judge said, ''or just someone sitting on a porch trying to enjoy a beautiful afternoon.'' In this morning's three-hour session, Judge Molony disposed of 15 parking cases, 13 animal control cases, 5 sanitation cases and 4 tourism cases. He informed a habitual parking violator that, no, there would not be a payment plan for outstanding tickets. He arranged for an inmate work detail to clean the underbrush from the yard of Walter A. Luszki, 88, a retired psychologist, with Mr. Luszki paying administrative costs. ''Everybody has a responsibility to ensure that this city be aesthetically pleasing and a place that people leave with a favorable impression,'' the judge said. ''If the livability of the city deteriorates, it's going to have an impact on whether people want to live downtown, and we'll wind up where we were 30 or 40 years ago with our neighborhoods crumbling.'' =================================
