Committee amends criminal-nuisance ordinance language, adds $250 fine; final vote paused

The Cleveland City Council Safety Committee on a second hearing reviewed Ordinance 228-2025, an emergency ordinance (sponsor: Councilmembers Polentic and Griffin) to amend sections 6.30.01 and 6.30.02 of the Codified Ordinances of Cleveland governing criminal nuisance activity, enforcement and cost certification. Committee members voted by voice to adopt two administration-drafted amendments to the ordinance but paused final disposition of the ordinance to hear a scheduled presentation.

The ordinance revisions presented Feb. 20 would tighten how the city determines when a property is declared a criminal nuisance, clarify the abatement and invoicing procedure handled through the Division of Assessments and Licenses, and add a $250 fine when the director of public safety or designee declares property a nuisance. The administration’s amendment replaces mandatory language in several sections (striking “shall” and inserting “may”) to give the public safety director discretion to charge calculated abatement costs; it also adds an explicit $250 fine, an appeals path for property owners and a clerical change replacing the word “occasions” with “calendar days.”

Why it matters: the changes affect how property owners — including absentee landlords — can be…