Landlords, tenants and residents urge changes to Kennett’s property-maintenance inspections

Public comments at a Kennett City Council meeting focused on concerns about the city’s recently adopted property-maintenance rules, Ordinance 3099, and how inspectors are applying the new standards to older rental housing.

Speakers said enforcement has produced long inspection checklists and repairs that are difficult for small landlords to afford, prompting fears that rental units will be taken off the market and local businesses will lose customers. “These old houses in Kennett are not government housing. Landlords can’t afford to make all these old houses look new,” said Mary Jenkins, a Kennett resident and landlord, at the council podium.

A representative of the Kenneth Vandenor Association asked the council to suspend enforcement while the city and stakeholders develop a locally tailored inspection checklist. The representative urged the council to apply standards evenly to homeowners and landlords, to allow non-emergency repairs to be completed after tenants move in, and to establish a formal process that includes tenants and landlords. “No one wants to move any occupant into a home that is unsafe,” the representative said. The association also called for a moratorium on enforcement of certain nonurgent items until a revised set of standards is adopted.

Several commenters described specific problems with the current inspections. Jenkins and another tenant speaker said inspectors used what they were told was a government housing checklist, not a locally calibrated form; Jenkins urged meetings between inspectors and landlords to produce a mutually acceptable list of safety-focused items. Other commenters described instances they called inconsistent enforcement and said some requirements seemed overly detailed for older structures.

Council members and staff did not make policy changes during the public-comment period. The council did not vote on modifications to Ordinance 3099 at the meeting; the public remarks were taken during the comment period for council consideration at a later date.

The speakers asked the council to consider: a moratorium on nonemergency enforcement while standards are revised; a requirement that the same maintenance standards apply citywide (not only to rental properties); a process to allow utilities to be activated for new occupants while noncritical repairs are addressed; and clearer rules on when specialist inspections (electrical, HVAC) are required.

The comments also included tenant allegations about landlords withholding utilities and failing to make promised repairs; council staff described some of those matters as civil disputes and said court action may be necessary in certain cases. The council encouraged complainants to provide photographs and file formal complaints so staff can pursue enforcement when appropriate.

The public-comment block on property conditions included both landlord and tenant perspectives; speakers asked for a facilitated dialogue and clearer, locally tailored inspection criteria to avoid reducing the supply of affordable rental housing in Kennett.