In some of these recreational areas, blight has crept in through the presence of such items as abandoned vehicles on lawns. After all, the township's history goes way back and includes an 1831 appraisal by Alex de Tocqueville, the influential French visitor who wrote a famous analysis of the United States and its promise. That's now Waterford. The township has long had clean-up laws on the books. But they are criminal codes.
Burdens of proof are high.
Jail time is possible. Mr. Solden's plan, now being drafted, would make such cases a civil matter. But scale aside, the problems are the same. Supervisor Solden, serving his first term in the job, made clean-up an issue last fall when he ran for the office. But there also is a satisfying philosophical appeal in decriminalizing blight removal.