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Downtown business owner says building-code fines threaten small-business investment; downtown group asks city for supportive compliance program
Summary
Gravel Road Brewing owner Dan Lohr and Downtown Middletown Inc. urged the city to balance enforcement with support for small businesses, and called for stronger action against absentee landlords with vacant, code-violating properties.
A downtown brewery owner and downtown revitalization leaders used the City Council public‑comment period on Tuesday to urge Middletown staff and council to pair code enforcement with supportive compliance programs and tougher enforcement for absentee landlords.
Dan Lohr, owner of Gravel Road Brewing Company in downtown Middletown, told council he received multiple building-code citations, including two that he said would cost $8,000–$10,000 to fix. Lohr said the cost threatened his young business and that his requests to city staff for collaborative solutions produced…
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