Code violation cases pile up in Annville Township

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

Rubbish, garbage, junk storage, high grass and weeds, people living in a camper, and a sofa left in a yard are among the code violations overwhelming Annville Township this year, township administrator Candie Johnson told supervisors at their Aug. 4 meeting.

“We are two people who have full-time positions here that do code enforcement,” Johnson said. “And people just are not listening. We send letters, we make phone calls, people just absolutely ignore what we’re asking to do. Neighbors call when they’re upset because there’s garbage and this and that.”

Kelly Kulp, assistant township manager, is the other full-time employee who is trying to help reduce the pile of code violations.

“It’s been very challenging for some reason this year, people just don’t care about the properties,” Johnson said. “I keep trying, we keep trying, but there’s a whole pile-full just sitting there. We can write citations to this community all day long.”

Many, though far from all, of the violations are coming from rental units with out-of-town landlords, Johnson said.

“We have 500 rentals that we know about, and 500 landlords that are not here,” she said. “They’re relying on property maintenance to do it, but they’re not doing their job.”

Township solicitor Megan Ryland-Tanner said she cannot send a constable to enforce the code violations of out-of-town landlords. Processing code violations takes a long time, beginning with a notice of violation, Johnson said, and Ryland-Tanner said it takes up to 90 days to proceed from issuing a notice to sending out a constable for enforcement. State law limits the number of times she can send an enforcement official.

Then the property owner pays a fine, often a very large one, the solicitor said.

“I don’t want to go there, I want you to comply,” Johnson said. “We don’t want your money. We just want you to take the time to fix up your property.

“I just wanted to put that out there because it’s very frustrating with our community right now. We’re going to buckle down. It’s not going to get better. But we do have some success stories that come through, and we’re happy about that.”

Johnson spoke during the zoning/code officers/Right-to-Know report part of the meeting agenda, and when she moved on to Right-to-Know, resident Dustin Ferrillo spoke up from the audience with his concerns about a unanimous April 7 board vote approving a resolution for the destruction of “outdated and useless records.”

Ferrillo said he is waiting for the township to release all records he requested via Right-to-Know filed Aug. 6, 2025. The records involve a non-criminal investigation, he said – or in other words, code violations.

Board president Rex Moore said he misspoke previously when he said record destruction ordinances come up annually, when in fact they are raised every two years.

Ferrillo asked Ryland-Tanner why she hasn’t responded to his requests for updates on the status of his request. The solicitor said he must talk to Chad Schnee, an attorney hired to work on Ferrillo’s request, and that Ferrillo should have spoken only during the public comment period that was scheduled earlier in the agenda.

Other items:

• Supervisors voted 5-0 to accept a $137,000 bid from Allgyer Enterprises LLC for North Weaber Street storm sewer improvements. The five other bids received for the project ranged from $162,543.21 to $211,855.
• The board unanimously approved the Annville-Cleona Football Boosters’ request to put up street signs celebrating the high school football team in downtown Annville from mid-August to mid- or late November.
• By 4-0 vote, the board approved a Historical Architectural Review Board recommendation to allow window replacement at 217 W. Main St. Supervisor Anthony Perrotto abstained because the application was filed by his in-laws.
• By 5-0 vote, the board approved a HARB recommendation to allow window replacement at Salamander Books, 36 E. Main St., and a recommendation to approve new signage at Faithful Journey Counseling at 350 W. Main St.