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Struthers council to review ordinance after concerns over modular homes and garage conversions
Summary
Council members raised concerns about houses and detached garages being used as living quarters, questioned whether current county standards and zoning allow these structures, and directed counsel to review city ordinances to tighten language on foundations, spouting and permitted living units.
The Struthers City Council discussed tightening local housing and zoning ordinances after members raised concerns about modular homes and detached garages being used as living quarters.
The chair said the item was unfinished business tied to a house at the corner of Lincoln and 9th, which he described as having steel frames sitting on cement block and missing spouting. He asked the city’s law director and staff to review relevant ordinance language and proposed sending the matter to the zoning and annexation committee for recommended wording changes. “I think we should improve wording in it so we can better situate our,” the chair said, urging counsel to clarify what the city will allow going forward.
Council members debated whether county standards or city ordinance govern such builds and whether some structures are currently grandfathered. One councilor noted a detached garage converted to a rental apartment had been in use “for 20 years” and said that such long-standing conversions suggest some are treated as lawful under prior practice. Several members said the city needs to decide whether to require continuous, monolithic foundations rather than pier or block foundations for new permitted dwellings.
Speakers also raised sanitary and utility questions for converted garages, noting that a living unit needs proper sanitary and water service. A councilor said conversions should be allowed only if permits, inspections and appropriate utility connections are installed and inspected: “If you go through the proper channels and you’re pulling permits … then that is possible,” the councilor said.
The chair asked counsel and staff for focused ordinance language and recommended a zoning-and-annexation committee meeting to review the code and propose clarifications. The discussion did not produce any formal enforcement actions on existing properties; instead, council members directed legal staff to draft clearer ordinance language to address foundation type, spouting, and when garage conversions are permitted.
Next steps: council asked the law director and staff to review the ordinances and bring proposed wording to the zoning and annexation committee for consideration.
