On March 5, the San Antonio City Council approved the Code Enforcement Strategic Plan, which is designed to address high levels of community dissatisfaction and increased service demand.

The big picture

The Department of Development Services created the strategic plan in response to a council consideration request, or CCR, submitted by former District 4 council member Adriana Rocha Garcia on July 27, 2023. The CCR was prompted in part by the increased service demands identified in the 2023 Budget Priorities Survey, which showed that 50% of respondents felt their needs were only partly met or not met at all.

A CCR is the formal process that allows council members to propose new policies, programs or studies to be reviewed for future action. CCRs require a minimum of five council members’ signatures to move forward and are a core method for introducing initiatives to the city, according to city documents.

The strategic plan seeks to provide:

Improved communication systems by strengthening internal communication tools, expanding community engagement and enhancing information delivery.Clear and effective educational materials by developing accessible outreach resources to increase program visibility and enhance staff and community understanding of Code processes.Balanced proactive and reactive enforcement by ensuring consistent enforcement through improved coordination, expedited vacant lot clean-ups, expanded service contracts and greater public awareness.Stronger vacant lot enforcement by focusing resources on proactive maintenance and enhanced partnerships to address recurring problem areas related to vacant lots.Expanded hardship referral support by increasing program awareness, streamlining the referral process and strengthening resident connections to available assistance for hardship referrals.Though approval of the strategic plan has no immediate fiscal impact, its implementation is expected to affect city resources and services, including a potential staff enhancement proposal as part of the fiscal year 2026-27 budget development process.

Benefits of additional resources include:

Providing staff more time for thorough inspectionsEnhancing customer serviceProviding proactive community education on code compliance