Pastor Brian Brown, a village landlord, speaks during a Committee of the Whole meeting in Lisbon on Friday held to discuss proposed rental regulations. (Photo by Stephanie Elverd)

LISBON — Lisbon council, landlords and residents came together again on Friday to continue the conversation regarding rental regulations in the village as well as discuss an existing rental ordinance already on the Lisbon books but ended up making little progress toward reaching a resolution.

“We are not getting anywhere with any of these meetings,” Council President Melissa Hiner said. “It’s just the same stuff we’re going over, over and over and again.”

Other than discussing the existing ordinance (Chapter 719 of the village code), Friday’s Committee of the Whole meeting repeated the same talking points. Mayor Pete Wilson continued to advocate for a new ordinance that would require all rental properties in the village to be inspected to obtain an annual “certificate to rent” and mandate all landlords pay a $60 registration per rental unit per year. The annual fees would fund a new position of housing inspector in the village. Landlords continued to call the oversight “overreach” and said such an ordinance would punish good property owners for the deeds of a few bad apples. Both sides, along with residents, continued to agree that “something needs to be done” about the dilapidated income properties in the village, but can’t reach a consensus on what exactly that “something” is.

“We have a chance to improve the rental properties in Lisbon,” Wilson said. “Mental Health requires inspections. HUD requires inspections. If it works for them, why can’t it work in Lisbon?”

The main obstacle in implementing an inspection system of any kind comes down to the capabilities to enforce it. Wilson wants to create a new housing department within the village and hire an inspector. Hiner isn’t against the idea of inspections, but she does have concerns about spending village money to pay for a new position — especially when an ordinance allowing inspections of rental properties already exists.

The existing ordinance — (Ordinance 2047-19) — was passed with a third reading in August of 2019 with a purpose “to improve the conditions of rental properties and maintain appropriate fire safety measures within the Village of Lisbon.” The ordinance requires that a “landlord shall maintain the rental unit in substantial compliance with the Codified Ordinances of the Village of Lisbon and any other applicable laws and refers to Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 5321.04. The ORC covers most of what Wilson is asking for in the new regulations — requiring that rental dwellings have safe and working electrical and plumbing, running water, reasonable amounts of hot water, and reasonable heat at all times — while the existing village code already allows for inspections of rental properties.

However, it only allows for the fire chief or a licensed fire inspector to conduct an inspection for the “purposes of correcting any conditions liable to cause a fire or endanger life due to fire.”

The existing ordinance affords the owner, operator or occupant of any rental property the ability to request an inspection, but again only for fire hazards. It does not lay out procedures or protocols to inspect for any other safety or sanitary issues or address other concerns like vermin or lack of heat or hot water. ORC 4321.04 does but the matter of enforcement or repercussions for violations is left lacking.

Lisbon Fire Chief Mark Hall said since the legislation was passed not one person has called asking for inspection, but his department would facilitate a request.

“If some did call, we would make it happen,” he said. “But our main focus is public safety.”

Hall also specified that his expertise is in fire hazards when inspecting homes, and expressed doubt that a new ordinance is necessary or how it would help, suggesting the village work with what it has and add to it.

“You can have as many ordinances as you want, but you have to have someone to reinforce them,” he said. “We already have a foundation with this ordinance. Let’s build on that.”

Wilson wasn’t convinced that the existing village code would solve the problem. He called the existing ordinance “very, very bare bones” and said it was only passed as a compromise when the need for rental property legislation was being hashed out seven years ago when he sat on council.

“I made a motion for an ordinance to strengthen rental regulations then and nobody second it,” he said. “What we ended up with was a facesaving, toothless measure.”

Wilson has been working on drafting legislation with village solicitor Alec Beech and presented his draft to council and the community on Feb. 4. That draft laid out what a rental inspection will look like, focusing on among other things fire safety, general safety conditions, functioning plumbing, drainage and electrical and adequate windows and doors. The draft also mandates income properties be free of vermin (rats, termites, bedbugs or other pests) as well as the accumulation of trash inside or out.

In an effort to make some kind of headway and arrive at a remedy regarding rental regulations — whether that means new or old legislation — Hiner suggested a council safety committee meeting, hoping a smaller group can zero on the most pressing concerns and consider what the village’s options are to move forward toward a solution.

That meeting has not yet been set.

selverd@mojonews.com