Upkeep of private properties a battle for cities

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Editor's Note: Off and on for years, city of Aurora officials have talked about enacting a property maintenance code. Here is how three other area cities handle problems of rundown properties.

by Matt Fredmonsky

Record-Courier Reporter

The cities of Kent, Ravenna and Tallmadge are all in different phases of the same fight -- enforcement of property maintenance codes.

Clearly, Tallmadge officials say, the bell has already rung in their winning bout with the issue. Ravenna, however, is in the midst of a knock-down, drag-out battle.

And Kent, arguably having lost the first match with a run on devalued student rentals, has gone back to the gym and could return to the ring a heavyweight prize fighter.

In recent years, Kent has employed a part-time code enforcement officer to manage complaints about property maintenance. Recently, student housing in the city has increased, often to the detriment of neighboring property values.

But the city is doing two things to attack the problem.

The first is hire a full-time code enforcement officer, a position that could be filled later this month.

Secondly, administrators and council members are weighing the adoption of a version of the International Code Council's International Property Maintenance Code, which would implement strict guidelines on the exterior and interior of all city residential and commercial properties.

Kent Community Development Director Gary Locke said interviews are complete and the city is in the process of making an offer to a candidate.

HE EXPECTS the new, full-time code officer will have more to do if the city adopts the ICC inspired code. The workload, Locke said, would depend upon the as-yet undecided enforcement procedures.

"For the most part, I'd envision having this person be busier because the proposed code is broader and encompasses more properties and more issues than the current one does," he said.

A renewed enforcement effort is sorely needed, Kent Economic Development Director Dan Smith said.

"We've had some complaints by some of our existing companies, when they bring in potential employees or clients to town, that the community looks tired," he said.

"As it stands right now, there isn't any real mechanism for us to address the types of problems that are being brought to our attention."

In Ravenna, some city administrators have suggested there is a need for additional manpower to fight the spread of lax attitudes toward property upkeep.

Ravenna Mayor Kevin Poland said, unlike Kent, the city should examine its current enforcement efforts before considering new, stricter laws.

"We already have [a code] in existence," Poland said. "I'm not saying it shouldn't be fine-tuned or modified at all. The No. 1 objective should be to enforce the one we have."

Enforcement within the city has improved since a new code officer came on board about a year and a half ago, but Poland added there could always be improvements.

And Ravenna is examining ways to pool money to provide senior citizens and other people on fixed incomes with financial assistance when faced with making costly repairs such as painting, replacing siding or removing junk cars.

"SOME people don't realize all the work and effort that has resulted in improvements that many people over look," Poland said. "We're getting the inspections done, we're making sure they're in compliance with the housing code and we will continue to aggressively enforce it."

Property codes, like those on the books in Kent and Ravenna, operate primarily on a complaint-citation basis. An inspection requires a call from someone complaining about a property.

A city employee responds by inspecting the site and, if warranted, issues a citation for a clear violation.

For the most part, Tallmadge operates in the same manner. But city leaders came up with a new program in 2006 to promote demolition of blighted structures and boost construction of new houses.

Pat Sauner, Tallmadge's economic development dir-ector, said the city implemented a demolition program in which owners of houses deemed blighted by the city are eligible to have half the demolition costs reimbursed by Tallmadge taxpayers.

If another house is built in its place, the city will pay 100 percent of the demolition costs.

Tallmadge has used the program on about a dozen properties at an average cost of between $4,000 and $5,000 per house, he said.

"The goal of that program is to preserve neighborhoods and help neighborhoods redevelop," Sauner said. "The benefit is it helps stabilize neighborhoods, and property values stabilize."

E-mail: mfredmonsky@recordpub.com Telephone: 330-296-9657