Property upkeep on council's agenda

Rules focus on safety issues, rental housing

Proposed city regulations designed to address the upkeep of homes and businesses are up for another round of discussion tonight.

The City Council will consider an ordinance that would adopt an amended version of the International Property Maintenance Code, or IPMC, as the local standard for upkeep of buildings. The council also will consider an ordinance aimed specifically at rental-housing properties.

The ordinances spell out how the city should deal with dangerous buildings and neglected properties when it cannot get the cooperation of property owners.

City officials say the measures are needed to update obsolete ordinances and protect the health and safety of the public.

Developing the ordinances has taken more than two years and extensive public outreach, said Mayor Doug Hutchinson.

Over time, proposed regulations have shifted from setting aesthetic standards for paint jobs and gutters on homes to focusing on safety issues, he said.

"The city hasn't had the tools to deal with certain situations," he said. "I think we're doing something important here and have done some pretty good due diligence in getting to where we are."

The ordinance defines four areas under which the city may take action against a property — substandard structures or equipment, unfit for human occupancy, dangerous structures and unlawful structures.

Many of the ordinance’s provisions are aimed at ensuring the habitability of rental-housing properties. The code would require rentals to have adequate heating systems, insect screens on windows and doors, and smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

The proposed ordinance excludes owner-occupied single-family homes that do not have rooms for rent, unless they are dangerous or unfit to occupy.

It also no longer carries a provision that would have established a registry for vacant buildings.

Local real estate agent Eric Kronwall, who followed the long process of developing the ordinances, said he is generally supportive of what city staff members are proposing.

“It is acceptable to me; I’m not going to fight it,” he said. “I believe this is a political compromise.”

Kronwall said he still has some concerns about the ordinances, including the large number of amendments the city wants to tack on to the IPMC.

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About Safeguard
Safeguard Properties is the largest privately held field services company in the country. Located in Cleveland, Ohio and founded in 1990 by Robert Klein, Safeguard has grown from a regional preservation company with a few employees and a handful of contractors performing services in the Midwest, to a national company with over 500 employees. Safeguard is supported by a nationwide network of subcontractors able to perform any requested superintendence, preservation, and maintenance functions, as well as numerous ancillary services in the U.S., the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.