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Frostburg council reviews broad revisions to rental-housing ordinance, adds digital platform, inspection changes
Summary
City staff presented first-reading amendments to the rental housing ordinance: clarified definitions (digital platform, immediate family, vacant unit types), moved inspection duties from third‑party to in‑house option, tightened registration and inspection scheduling, and removed a redundant appeals section.
City staff presented first-reading amendments to Frostburg’s rental-housing ordinance that simplify language, add new definitions for modern practices and clarify inspection and registration processes.
The draft adds a definition for “digital platform” to support online licensing, expands the immediate‑family definition to include grandparents and clarifies who is the responsible owner when properties are under land‑installment or rent‑to‑own arrangements. Staff said the ordinance now distinguishes temporarily vacant from permanently vacant units to prepare for a potential vacant-property registry in a future fiscal year.
A major operational change is a shift in the ordinance language to allow the city to use an in‑house rental inspector while preserving the option to contract third‑party inspectors without code amendments. Staff removed a requirement that the inspector carry independent insurance when the role is a city employee; councilors asked staff to add a clause requiring insurance if a third party is retained.
Staff also proposed changes to inspection scheduling: rental units would remain on a three‑year inspection cycle, but notices will be issued in waves and inspections must occur within 90 days of notice (rather than allowing the full six‑month cycle), with two allowable 30‑day extensions for good cause. The revisions make explicit that rental registration requires a complete application, fee payment and unit labeling (Unit A/Unit 1 format) to avoid mail return issues. Staff removed a lengthy appeals subsection and instead referenced existing appeal procedures elsewhere in the city code.
The ordinance is at first reading and will return for a second reading at the June meeting; staff said two typographical clauses in section 3 will be corrected before then.
