West Chester staff report 97% completion of rental-license renewals; code enforcement ramps up

Aaron Flook, director of building, housing and code enforcement for the borough of West Chester, told the Growth Committee on Dec. 10 that staff have completed 97% of the borough’s annual rental-license renewals and expect to finish remaining renewals by January.

The director said enforcement steps — from notification to notices of violation and now citations — prompted many property owners to complete outstanding renewals. "We have completed 97% of our rental licenses, which we are far ahead of where we were last year at this time," Flook said.

Why it matters: rental-license compliance affects tenant safety, inspection schedules and the borough’s ability to track and address substandard conditions. Flook said the department has generated about 70 citations related to outstanding renewals and currently shows about 145 outstanding licenses; citations have encouraged nearly 20 owners to finish renewals since notices went out.

Flook also described responses to unpermitted renovation work and the inspection process. A New Street property was issued a stop order and provided an abatement deadline; Flook said the owner has since contacted the office and is pursuing required permits. He stressed that if plans are not submitted by the abatement deadline penalties increase, and inspectors may require openings in finished work to verify structural safety. "If there is something that is hidden ... we would require all that to be opened up for inspection so that any drywall or insulation they had put in would have to be pulled and removed," he said.

The department is recruiting a new code enforcement officer, Flook said, with three interviews completed and additional candidates scheduled, aiming to have the position filled early in the new year. He added the office has designated additional staff hours to focus on code enforcement and has coordinated with public works on trash-and-refuse ordinance enforcement.

Flook said ticket dismissals declined from 12 to 5 after training and process improvements. He also reported that the borough opened 158 individual enforcement cases and closed 102 in the recent reporting period, noting some requests were duplicates or outside borough jurisdiction.

On public-safety complaints, Flook said police submitted multiple disruptive conduct reports for noise this month and two properties reached three reports each; staff (including the solicitor, Sean) met with parties and will await corrective-action outcomes before taking next steps. "We've had this month in November, we had more disruptive conduct reports for noise than I have had in the entirety of my tenure here," he said.

What’s next: the committee thanked staff for the report and moved on to other agenda business. No formal policy changes were adopted during the meeting; follow-up will depend on enforcement outcomes and the new hire’s start date.

Ending: The Growth Committee heard the director’s report and recorded no separate motions on enforcement strategy; staff will continue implementing the citations, inspections and hiring actions described at the meeting.