With two weeks left until the Mifflin Street Block Party, the city of Madison is working to ensure safety for all partygoers. This year there have been a record number of porch violations due to old age and a lack of repairs that could cause numerous problems during the block party.

“Almost every house on Mifflin Street was built over 100 years ago,” City Council President Mike Verveer said. “The porches add character; they are a great amenity, but the reality is dozens of people partying out on old third-, second- and first-story porches is dangerous.”

In combating the danger of overpopulated and deteriorating porches, city building inspectors examined more than 100 properties during the last week of March and the first week of April. Properties inspected included residences on the 400 and 500 blocks of West Mifflin Street and also residences on Bedford, Broom and Bassett streets.

Of these 100 properties, approximately 15 were labeled as having significant issues, and another two properties were immediately restricted according to George Hank, City Housing Inspector supervisor. The city is expecting approximately nine of the 15 properties to be repaired in time for the block party.

This leaves a number of properties with un-repaired porches that will be restricted during the festivities because of safety concerns. Partygoers will be allowed inside the residences but will be restricted from the potential danger of the crumbling porches.

“The reality is landlords put little money into their properties, so the city orders porch inspections [before the block party],” Verveer said. “This has been going on for several years.”

Residents and landlords were mailed official notices in advance so repairs could be finished before the block-party event. If the repairs are not finished by May 1, as in the case of several properties this year, the porches will be sealed off before the festivities begin.

“The Thursday and Friday before the block party we make contact with the owners, and we will put up signs on doors and windows to barricade the porches saying they are unsafe and not to be used,” Hank said.

Working alongside the University of Wisconsin Police Department and the Madison Police Department, Hank said the city gives the police a list of addresses with porches to be restricted from partygoers.

“I feel very sorry for the residents impacted, but it is absolutely better to be safe than sorry,” Verveer said.

Students agreed safety during the weekend block party is important.

“I think that the city does a good job of trying to keep things safe,” UW junior Sam Thompson said. “There’s always a large police presence which tends to keep people under control, and the city makes an effort to keep people off unsafe balconies.”

One concern for landlords is the short amount of time they were given to fix the porches before the block party, according to Hank. The city can grant them an extension on the porch repairs as long as they are properly restricted during the Mifflin Street event.

However, Verveer said the vast majority of the porch repairs had due dates at least a week before the party, giving landlords significant time to finish the repairs.

In the end, the city will have the porches restricted or fixed and if property owners disagree, they can be issued fines, according to Verveer.

“People cannot ignore the warnings about unsafe porches, especially during the block party,” Thompson said.