This is a friendly reminder that tomorrow night (Wednesday, 4/25) we will host a special Neighborhood Leaders Group meeting and presentation. The meeting will be held in Room 202 of the Development Services Building at the County Complex in Woodbridge. The presentation begins at 7:00 but all neighborhood leaders are as usual welcome to an informal social/discussion time that precedes the event at 6:30 pm.

Senior Inspector Paula Johnson will present to us on the issue of Hoarding as it pertains to potentially unsafe living conditions and code enforcement in neighborhoods across the United States. While there is no indication that severe residential hoarding is a significant or a growing problem here in Prince William County, it does exist in our neighborhoods. Neighborhood Services deals with nearly one new Unsafe Living Conditions case every week on average that requires both skill and sensitivity for us to analyze as a code enforcement matter and to address procedurally.

Inspector Johnson and her team have a track record now of successfully creating progress in cases where hoarding has resulted in unsafe living conditions for occupants and their neighbors. This presentation offers a fascinating look into how the hoarding phenomenon that is gaining notice nationally is affecting us here in Prince William County neighborhoods. We will also see how Neighborhood Services is encountering the property and structure-related fallout from severe hoarding behavior. Using this case study of code enforcement regarding unsafe living conditions, we will also get better insight into the complex procedural and legal processes involved in addressing the whole gamut of property code related issues we deal with every day.

If there is time, we will also take a few moments to discuss the curriculum plan and outreach/marketing strategies for the Neighbor-to-Neighbor Capacity Building Conference now planned for a Saturday in September. Any ideas or suggestions you have for this great new neighborhood development event -- which will be an education event open to all County residents -- will be enthusiastically welcomed.

If you plan to attend, please let us know by calling 703-792-7018 or emailing us at nsd@pwcgov.org so that we can ensure there are enough seats in the room for participants.