Pokagon Township officials are asking a number of its landowners to perform some necessary spring cleanup to their lawns and surrounding property — or else.

The township board is stepping up enforcement of its blight and zoning codes this season, increasing the issuance of civil infractions to property owners who fail to heed to their requests in a timely manner. Residents are encouraged to remove any items or repair any structures that violate these ordinances, or else they may face fines from the county, said Joseph True, code enforcement and zoning administrator for the township.

The crackdown follows several weeks of heavy complaints from residents, who are concerned about the condition of several neighboring homes, True said.

“They feel that the value of their own property goes down because their neighbor’s property looks so bad,” he said.

Among the long-term issues that True is finding with violating properties are residents leaving building materials out on lawns, trash barrels that are overflowing with garbage, and unregistered vehicles sitting out in lawns past the 30-day period mandated by state law, he said.

While an ongoing issue for any township, these blight violations have exploded over the last few months, and are at the worst he’s seen in his four years with Pokagon, True said. The code enforcement officer believes that the winter conditions have played a role in the collection of violating materials on these properties, as well the fact that many of them have owners who live outside the area.

Right now, he is working with 20 different residences to rectify these issues, he said.

“We’re trying to do this in a way that won’t make people mad, but with when you have three to four people complaining about the condition of their neighbor’s home, you have to do something about it,” True said.

True will typically give a verbal warning to residents who violate blight codes, asking them to clean up their lawns within the next 10 days, he said.

“Pokagon Township will work with them on the matter, but they need to take initiative too,” he said.

If the issue appears to continue with no signs of improvement, he will issue homeowners a civil infraction, which could result in fines of $75 or more for a first offense, True said.

Residents with any questions or concerns about this issue can meet with True from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. every Monday at the Township Hall, located on 30683 Peavine St. in Dowagiac.