Nick McWilliams reporting – With concerns over resident safety, some New Philadelphia leaders are aiming towards reacting rental inspection legislation.
Discussed at length during the latest council meeting, the city is looking at entering homes with prior notice to ensure they’re safe for tenants.
Captain and Fire Prevention Lead Jim Sholtz says that there have been numerous unsafe and unsanitary situations he has witnessed from complaints, and he wants to take the next step in addressing issues to improve renters’ living situations.
“There’s been an alarming uptick in hazardous, unsafe situations in buildings that we are going into. Some of the things that we are seeing are just mind-blowing that people are living in these circumstances.”
He clarified that the vast majority of landlords in the city provide safe and clean living spaces.
Examples he used over the last few years were severe overcrowding, garage spaces and other non-approved areas being rented as living quarters, units that have had fires without maintenance still being lived in, lack of services like water, heat, or sewage, holes in floors, walls, and ceilings, and cockroaches and bed bugs throughout dwellings.
He cited 11 or more people living in a 1,000-square foot space, and some residents using buckets to get rid of and sometimes retain human waste. He’s also observed seven space heaters plugged into extension cords in a single home, one of which was kerosene with a two-gallon gas can near it.
Building and Zoning Codes Administrator Josh Matthias says that the proposal should not be viewed as oppressive or micromanaging, and should be seen as a welcome idea.
“It’s basically to get a minimum standard of living for the citizens of our town. To live in sanitary and safe places. These inspections, the way we’ve been talking, aren’t going to be 45 minute inspections of each rental until. They’re going to be looking for safety hazards and making sure the place is sanitary.”
Under the plan, dwellings would have scheduled inspections once a year to ensure they’re up to code, with ample notification made ahead of time.
The problems are sometimes caused by tenants as well, due to lack of cleaning, destructive behavior, or other issues.
Currently, the city is only state-mandated to inspect commercial and industrial buildings, with residential inspections more often controlled at the local government level, per Sholtz.
He says that the system that will be proposed can protect landlords, tenants, and neighbors, and keep houses safe.
More discussion is expected next council meeting.
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