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West Chester committee moves to tighten rental licensing enforcement, consider reinspection fee
Summary
At its March 12 Smart Growth Committee meeting, West Chester officials outlined stepped-up rental-license enforcement, staffing changes, inspection counts, a proposal for a reinspection fee and updates on problem properties and short‑term rental approvals.
The Smart Growth Committee of the West Chester Borough Council on March 12 said it will step up enforcement of the borough’s rental-license program after an influx of overdue inspections and outstanding fees.
Interim staff reported new hires and returning employees who are helping the borough catch up on inspections, outlined inspection counts and collections, and recommended adding a reinspection fee for failed rental-license inspections. Committee members also discussed recent case outcomes that could lead to license suspension and noted that the zoning hearing board granted three special exceptions for short‑term rental units at 26 West Union; applicants must file short‑term rental license applications under Chapter 66 and await a 30‑day appeal window that closes March 22.
Committee chair Nicole Schimone opened the item by summarizing staff changes and workload: Keisha McKenzie started as an administrative assistant on Feb. 18 to help contact landlords and confirm tenant/landlord forms; Wendy Mecke returned Feb. 24 to update permits and zoning hearing board tracking; and Building Code Official Paul Edwards resumed inspections Feb. 18. Staff said they are using a third‑party provider, BIU (Coreday), to accelerate inspections and bring properties into a 24‑month cycle, with a later goal of reducing inspections to an 18‑month interval.
Staff supplied accounting figures and inspection totals. The report said the borough received $14,017 in rental income from January through Feb. 20 (calendar period reported by staff) and that about $43,000 in license fees remains outstanding. Inspectors have recorded roughly 696 completed inspections and an outstanding list of about 841 units to inspect; staff cautioned those numbers may change as clerical corrections are made in SmartGov and as Coreday addresses campus housing clusters.
On enforcement and fees, staff described current practice and gaps: the borough has no dedicated reinspection fee for failed rental‑license inspections (a reinspection fee exists for permit inspections), and committee members agreed it should be added to the fee schedule. Finance staff had begun a worksheet to recommend an appropriate amount tied to prior settlement and local comparables; the committee asked staff (Barb and Sean) to return with a proposed fee for review next month.
Members and residents raised operational problems tied to check processing. Staff said some paper checks were taken but not posted into SmartGov due to scanning/deposit workflows; staff are reconciling bank transactions with SmartGov entries and asking payers to provide proof of payment when needed. Staff said online portal payments are increasing and should reduce mismatches going forward.
The committee also reviewed the borough’s points/penalty system. Staff reported a guilty finding in court for a trash violation at 302 North High Street and said a property at 315 South High has six points and an outstanding disruptive conduct report; if additional violations are found guilty the property could reach the 10‑point threshold that authorizes suspension or revocation of a rental license under the borough ordinance. A subsequent court hearing date was described as May 23 for outstanding matters.
Separately, planning and zoning staff reported that the zoning hearing board on Feb. 24 unanimously granted three special exceptions for short‑term rentals at 26 West Union. Those units must still apply for a Chapter 66 short‑term rental license and pass inspection; staff said the first applicable appeal window closes March 22 and they are trying to have the short‑term rental application available online by then.
The committee directed staff to continue contacting landlords out of compliance and to return with the proposed reinspection fee and clarifications to the inspection/SmartGov reports for the next meeting.
Less critical details: staff said they plan to move from bulk catch‑up work to routine monthly inspections after the backlog is closed and that the third‑party inspector’s work will reduce the outstanding unit count significantly.
