Mayor Pete Wilson (center) discusses proposed legislation that would require inspections of rental properties during Tuesday’s Lisbon Council meeting. Council members Zachary Smith (left) and Susan Temple are also pictured. (Photo by Stephanie Elverd)

LISBON — Rental property regulations were further discussed by Lisbon Council during its regular meeting on Tuesday at Village Hall with one member of council pushing back on proposed legislation that would require income properties to undergo an inspection process and meet certain requirements.

Mayor Pete Wilson has been advocating for such regulations since taking office and is currently drafting an ordinance that will be reviewed by Village Solicitor Alec Beech and submitted to the Committee of the Whole before being presented to council for passage in the future. Wilson’s proposal calls for the creation of a part-time rental inspector to carry out the inspections. It also includes a landlord registry and the awarding of a certificate of occupancy once a simple checklist of criteria (working heat, adequate windows, running water and operational sanitary) are met.

Councilman Jerry Cox, who owns six rental properties in the village, questioned the legal authority of such a position and the possibility of opening the village up to liability.

“Your plan is you’re going to hire someone off of the street and we are going to tell them to go inspect rental properties,” Cox said. “We want to hire a person who has no credentials, no type of authority to trespass on other people’s property. I am a rental property owner. I have six properties in this town, with my own personal home, I got seven, so, if whomever this person is, comes in to my rental and says ‘you’re house is good to go’ so I rent it and it burns down are we liable as a village because our non-qualified person says it is O.K. to rent it?”

Council, at the previous meeting, suggested the village expand the rental inspector position into what was referred to as a “housing inspector” — meaning all properties in Lisbon would fall under its authority.

Wilson concurred that a housing inspector would benefit the village by enforcing ordinances already in place, but said the legislation he is drafting is meant to ensure that properties that generate income are subject to some oversight. Wilson also asserted that Cox’s ownership of rental properties constitutes a conflict of interest when discussing rental regulations or inspections.

Cox disagreed.

“You cannot isolate just rental properties. Housing means every house in town. So she’s a homeowner, he’s a homeowner, he’s a homeowner, she’s owner,” Cox said pointing to other council members. “We are all homeowners here. Are we all a conflict of interest? Do we have a double standard or is it just me?”

“Sorry, but there’s a big difference,” Wilson countered. “I am not renting out rooms in my house for profit. I am not using my home for financial gain.”

Council president Melissa Hiner acknowledged the distinction, but also acknowledged the possibility of a double standard.

“That’s true, but if you don’t use a housing inspector equally among everybody you are holding people to different standards as well,” Hiner said. “So it’s not illegal to not have running water or electricity. A homeowner can have a deplorable property but since it’s not a rental, that’s O.K.? We have to be consistent on that as well.”

While Ohio law doesn’t mandate running water and electricity in residential homes, Ohio Revised Code Section 5321.04 does mandate that landlords provide tenants with running water and reasonable heat as well as “maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning fixtures and appliances”.

Ohio also considers landlords to be business owners — and inspections aren’t unique when obtaining certain certificates or licenses to do business. A restaurant, for example, is required to be inspected by the county health department in order to receive a food service permit. If a customer falls sick due to food poisoning, the health department is not considered at fault for having prevsiously issued the food permit.

Wilson estimates there are 400 rental properties in the village. According to Census Data, Lisbon has 1,262 residential properties. If both numbers are correct, rental properties equate to a quarter of the village’s residences. Wilson said if the village landlords are charged a nominal fee to receive the certificate of occupancy, the part-time inspector position could be self-funded. Wilson proposes that inspections be carried out 100 at a time in each quarter of the year.

Wilson used Salem’s current Occupancy License Ordinance as an example. Salem requires all rental properties in the city to obtain the license which that mandates “the dwelling meets the provisions of housing, zoning and fire codes” through an inspection and the payment of a $30 per dwelling fee. The occupancy license expires annually from the date of issue and is not transferable. It must be renewed each year with a filing fee. Housing inspectors in Salem are not required to be certified.

Cox insisted he is not against the idea of an occupancy license, but is against employing a non-licensed housing inspector.

“I don’t have a problem with it because I am not ashamed of any of my properties. You can walk in right now to any of my properties, and I will tell you right now, they are probably better than 75% of houses in this town,” he said. “Where the problem lies is that you want a non-certified person to come into one of my homes and tell me whether or not I can or cannot rent. That makes no sense to me. That’s trespassing.”

Village residents Donna St. Clair and Cora Lewis both spoke out in support of the rental regulations from different perspectives.

For St. Clair, it’s a battle she’s been fighting for years. In 2019, council mulled over enacting a landlord registration/inspection program, but took no action (Wilson was a councilmember and the program’s lone proponent). St. Clair also spoke in favor of regulations then, telling council of the unsanitary and unsafe conditions of a neighboring home and the vermin it attracts. She also said she tried to remedy the situation through the health department. On Tuesday, she told the same story — still ongoing — five years removed with no resolution.

Lewis has seen first-hand what neglect and deterioration of homes bring, reporting seeing a raccoon as “big as a dog” scurry from the property near St. Clair’s, but she spoke Tuesday as a person who has seen the kind of program Wilson is proposing actually applied.

“I worked for the Mahoning County Public Health before I retired as part of Healthy Homes program and I was a part of getting the landlord registry started in Youngstown. I know that it works. They are seeing results,” Lewis said. “Landlords are registering and they are getting certificates of completion. If we can’t find a person with the qualifications needed, then give them the training they need.”

According to the Ohio Department of Commerce, to become a licensed housing inspector 80-hours of coursework and criminal background checks must be completed and a passing grade obtained on the National Home Inspector Examination (NHIE). The NHIE typically costs $225 and the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI) offers a free, online 86-hour pre-licensing course approved by the State of Ohio.

“I am proud of this community but I am not proud of the state of the rental properties,” Lewis added. “We have some people who take care of their properties and we have some that don’t,” she said. “This is the second oldest community in Ohio. We need to do better. We need to take care our community, and I know Youngstown’s program is working because I was part of it. It can be done. If we don’t have the person [to do inspections] or we can’t find somebody, we get someone who can and we get them the training.”

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, council:

— Tabled a decision on replacing the mulch at Playtown at Cedar Street Park until it is certain funds are available to move forward. Council has received quotes to complete the project ranging from $10,000 to $40,000.

— Heard the installation of crosswalks at the intersection of E. Lincoln Way and Pritchard Avenue will move forward once the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) orders the equipment. The project was funded by an ODOT grant.

— Learned that a second change order on the Grant Street Bridge project was received for $4,146.75 with the village responsible for 20% of that amount.

— Approved holiday gift certificates ($25 each for 60 employees), the purchase of 1,500 feet of fire hose for the fire department ($4,600) and holding one meeting next month (Dec. 10) before resuming the two-meeting a month format in January.

— Heard that the fire department received a grant from Marathon Pipeline that will fund the purchase of a second portable gas meter.