City workshops potential rental inspection ordinance
Butler firefighters were unsure of how many individuals were residing in a rental unit that burned on Locust Street in November, because the unit’s occupancy report was not up to date, according to councilman Don Shearer.
The fire happened three days after a group of landlords met with Shearer over a possible rental inspection ordinance, which Shearer said is intended to prevent a situation like the one on Locust Street. Shearer shared this story Thursday evening, Feb. 1, at the second meeting regarding a possible rental inspection ordinance he spearheaded.
“When the fire department got there, they had no way to contact them,” Shearer said. “They knew four people were gone; they didn’t know how many were supposed to be there. That puts the firemen in danger because they don’t know if they are on a rescue mission or just extinguishing.”
After a tense meeting with a number of landlords in November, Shearer worked with landlord and real estate agent John Kramer to revamp the language of the drafted ordinance.
Shearer said the draft he presented at the November meeting, which laid out a procedure that would require landlords to report when a tenant moves out of their property and trigger an inspection by a city inspector, had been “completely gutted.”
In the time since the meeting, Shearer has had meetings with Kramer and had alerted magistrate judges that the city is working on an inspection ordinance.
More than 30 people attended the informal meeting Thursday in the Holly Pointe Building to hear about changes to the draft.
Kramer said Shearer approached him to help craft his idea aimed at preventing blight and legal issues between landlords and tenants into a full-fledged ordinance.
“I want to leave this open ... to see what we can do as landlords to help take care of this situation,” Kramer said.
Shearer said aside from creating an ordinance for rental inspection standards, he wanted the occupancy forms sent by the city to be digitized instead of just being sent through the mail.
Larry Rogers said he was representing landlords at the meeting. He said the landlords would cooperate with the city regarding documents about occupancy, but he would fight against having landlords themselves pay the city to have their units inspected.
The discussion at the informal meeting Thursday was just a discussion, and Shearer said there would likely still be some time before he formally brings a proposal to council.
“I want a working relationship with landlords in the city,” Shearer said. “I’m not looking to go to war with them.”
