Becoming a nuisance to nuisance properties: That’s one of Fort Worth’s New Year’s resolutions. Leaders say some businesses are constantly causing problems, and they’re sick of it. They’re creating the Nuisance Enforcement Task Force, or NET Force, comprised of 10 city departments, to sl am owners with a slew of joint inspections. “It’s an all-out blitz, if you will,” said Code Compliance Director Brian Daugherty during a briefing to City Council on Tuesday. “Police, Fire, Code, everyone goes out there. Everyone’s going to look at every possible thing they can address.” He said that may even mean finding probable cause or getting warrants. “Every single thing that we can address at that property, and everyone staying on top of it,” he said. The idea is to pressure the business owners into addressing problems in one way or another. “We want it in compliance. If that means they decide to demolish the property, awesome,” Daugherty said during the city council work session. “If they say, ‘Man, this is a lot of money, and they’re coming after me hard, and I want to sell it,’ that’s fine.” He said leaders are also drafting a nuisance ordinance that would give the task force the power to dole out more fines, and even take away a business’s certificate of occupancy. “I know you guys are tired of hearing the same complaints that you hear about these properties, and so, you know, we’re going to get a solution to that. We’re going to work towards it,” Daugherty said. The city has even published its first hit-list of four businesses that will be targeted in the new year: Eco Motel at 3201 E. Lancaster Ave., Rocky’s I at 4250 Hemphill St., Rocky’s II at 4220 Hemphill St., and Sandy Oak Apartments at 1525 Sandy Lane. Daugherty said their targets were chosen based on police data and complaints from neighbors. “I love this idea of bringing everybody together so we get in and intervene early and let’s get some of these things closed,” said City Council Member Deborah Peoples of District 5, where Sandy Oak Apartments is located. Carol Peters is also excited about the new task force; she and other East Fort Worth neighbors have been voicing their frustration with Eco Motel for years. “It’s a drag on our community, it’s a drag on that corridor,” said Peters, who is president of the West Meadowbrook Neighborhood Association. She said for decades, the motel has brought crime to the area. “It does spillover into our neighborhoods and inhibit our ability to attract business and to grow and to thrive,” she said. Peters said she and other neighbors had been advocating for city leaders to work together across departments and focus on the problem. “I am excited to see that this task force is formed and funded,” she said. “I think we have the best chance of success in a very long time.” Information on the Nuisance Enforcement Task Force, or NET Force, can be found on pages 15-26 of the document below: NBC 5 was not able to get a hold of the owner of Eco Hotel for this story; they have not responded to any of our previous requests for comments for past stories. NBC 5 also reached out to other owners on Fort Worth’s target list, and was only able to reach one: The property owner of what the city names Rocky’s I. According to business signage, the name is SouthSide Food Mart by Rocky. The property owner did not want to go on camera with NBC 5 for fear of repercussions by the city, but insisted he was not doing anything wrong at his business. He also accused the city of not doing its part in keeping the area clean and safe. Daugherty said the task force will start inspection and enforcement in January and come back to city council members with an update after six months. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less