American Fork is cleaner.

That's according to an unofficial poll by the city's neighborhood preservation committee.

Members of the committee recently conducted a bus tour of the city with Mayor Heber Thompson and members of the City Council. The group drove to sites that had been identified as needing improvement and those that had been improved since the last tour about three years ago.

"This time we had fewer than 20 homes," committee chair Doug Bethers said. "Last time we saw around 50."

In addition, 300 to 400 junk vehicles have been removed from private properties around the city, Bethers said.

"It has been a job, but it has been well worth it," he said, noting the committee has conducted two drives to move the vehicles, including offering a drawing for a donated cash prize.

The city has a police officer who has been working with enforcement officer Jim Hardy to identify offending properties and work with the owners or residents to remedy the situation.

On the recent bus tour, committee members viewed properties that had zoning violations, including home additions that almost touch the lot line -- a violation of city code, building without a permit, having non-operating vehicles on a lot, no landscaping or feral landscaping, and storing building materials and refuse.

Hardy told committee members about several properties that had been issued citations. Some had been issued fix-it tickets and had time to respond before more action was taken.

Committee member Juel Belmont commented on a home that used to be her father's dental office.

"What a heartbreak for a family to look at the property," she said. "I can hardly look. There is not only zoning violations, but apparently no inspection. There is a chimney tacked on and trash in the road."

Bethers shared both failures and success stories.

"There was a person who was issued a citation," he said. "He was on a fixed income. His (LDS) stake president offered help. He was very willing to keep his place up and was very gracious. The place looks a lot better than it ever did."

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A6.