DPIE's Stepped Up Enforcement Blitz
Dear Prince Georgians:
Our Department of Permitting, Inspections, and Enforcement (DPIE) has officially launched the “Stepped Up Enforcement Blitz,” an enforcement campaign that is focused on addressing unlicensed and illegal businesses. This code enforcement blitz is in response to increasing resident complaints regarding illegally operating businesses in the County.
The Enforcement team will concentrate on the areas in the County with the highest complaint rates. DPIE’s Enforcement team will work to raise awareness of County Codes, which are in place for health and safety reasons, and explain necessary steps needed to come into compliance.
We recognize that unlicensed businesses pose a threat to our community's integrity and safety, and this initiative is about more than shutting people down. Our goal is to work with residents operating businesses illegally to bring them into compliance, when possible, ensuring fairness and fostering a thriving business environment throughout the County.
How Does the Code Enforcement Blitz Work?
DPIE’s "Stepped Up Enforcement Blitz" will have several phases: an outreach strategy, an amnesty period, followed by with citations.
It begins with public outreach through flyers and collaboration with various community groups regarding illegal businesses. DPIE is targeting two categories of unlicensed businesses: those that can achieve compliance and those that cannot achieve compliance.
Businesses that can achieve compliance are defined as establishments that are operating outside of County Code but are able to bring their operation into compliance. Examples of businesses that can come into compliance include:
- Unpermitted Residential Hair Salons/Barber Shops or Nail Salons
- Food Trucks Vending on Side of Public Roads
- Tax Preparation Business in Your Home
- Unlicensed Room and Boarding House Rentals
- Unlicensed Day or Elder Care
- Operating a Store from Your Home
For these types of businesses, DPIE will educate business owners on how to secure required permits and licenses and provide a 90-day window for businesses to respond before issuing fines.
Businesses that cannot achieve compliance are defined as those that are illegal to operate. Examples of businesses that cannot achieve compliance include:
- Running a Restaurant, Any Type of Eatery, or Selling Food from Your Home, Garage or Yard
- Operating a Home Car-Repair Business or Vehicle Paint Booth
- Selling Items from the Center of Intersections or from the Trunks of Vehicles
- Using Your Home to House Goods for Resale
- Operating Pay-to-Attend Parties or Selling Alcohol from Your Premises
- Converting a Single-Family Home into More than One Dwelling Unit
- Allowing Sheds to Be Used as Living Quarters
For businesses that cannot achieve compliance, DPIE will immediately begin issuing citations and fines.
Addressing Concerns About DPIE’s Capacity
As many of you know, we are working on improving our enforcement capabilities at DPIE, as the agency has long faced staffing challenges. Unfortunately, these staffing challenges have an impact on DPIE’s operations. It is with this knowledge and with a significant budget deficit looming, that our County Council continues to pass legislation adding to DPIE’s responsibilities.
Last year alone, under different leadership, several councilmembers worked to pass 5 pieces of legislation that required DPIE to have a role: the Rent Stabilization Act of 2023, the Universal Design for Housing Bill, Landlord-Tenant Regulation legislation, Early Warning Process legislation, and the Tobacco Store Enforcement legislation. Additionally, there is legislation currently under consideration that would add parking enforcement, which is already handled by the Revenue Authority, to the list of DPIE’s responsibilities.
For each of these bills, my administration has asked the Council to slow down, warning that DPIE was already stretched too thin and that DPIE’s staffing challenges would make enforcement of new legislation difficult at this time. Simply put, we are in a situation where the asks placed on DPIE outpace the agency’s ability to hire quality inspectors and do this important work.
We want to stress that DPIE is committed to serving Prince Georgians, but the limited resources at DPIE’s disposal mean the agency has to prioritize its work. Because DPIE is a complaint-driven agency, enforcement is focused on resident complaints on items such as trash, weeds, and other quality of life code violations. The good news is that the agency is actively hiring. Of the 30 inspector positions funded by the FY 2024 budget, approximately half have been filled, but we do continue to experience the same hiring difficulties that are impacting all jurisdictions across our region.
As we remain committed to focusing on quality-of-life code violations, DPIE will begin targeting unlicensed businesses this week. The Enforcement Blitz will focus on areas of the County where DPIE has received the most complaints about illegal businesses. We encourage residents to be on the lookout for more information about this enforcement effort, and to report suspected code violations to PGC311. We also encourage residents to spread the word about our "Stepped Up Enforcement Blitz.” Learn more about the campaign, get answers to questions, and more on the DPIE website here.
Yours in service,
Angela Alsobrooks
Prince George’s County Executive
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