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Mariemont council backs staff plan to step up rental inspections ahead of 2025 compliance deadline
Summary
Council supported a staff proposal to begin plane‑view inspections and targeted outreach to property owners who have not applied for rental certificates, with notices to be cleared by legal counsel and the police chief before external issuance.
Council members on Dec. 18 unanimously agreed in principle to a staff plan to increase enforcement of the village’s rental-certificate program ahead of a June 2025 compliance checkpoint.
Building administrator Rod Holloway and fiscal officer Kelly Ranken told council that rental-certificate compliance has lagged behind the original target. Rod described a plan to "randomly select from the group of people that haven't applied for any" certificates and perform plane-view exterior inspections of their properties, beginning with an estimated 12–15 targeted owners for initial learnings. Notices and follow-up letters would be reviewed by the village solicitor (Ed, referenced in the transcript) and the police chief before being sent.
Council members pressed staff on procedural safeguards: what counts as a defect on a plane-view inspection, how owners will be notified, and what happens if inspections find issues. Rod said exterior defects identified in plane-view inspections would trigger a follow-up letter giving owners a timeframe to correct problems before any citation is issued; internal inspections would only occur on complaint or with owner permission unless the village sought an administrative warrant.
Council members expressed support for starting with external inspections, acknowledging that municipalities vary in how aggressively they manage rental-certification programs. Several members noted outreach efforts to date had been extensive but produced limited results and that a stepped-up enforcement posture was needed to restore the program’s intended compliance levels.
Council consensus was registered by a verbal show of hands; the transcript records agreement that staff should proceed with the plan described in Rod’s December 2023 memo. Staff will prepare draft external notices for legal and police review and will report back to council as enforcement actions proceed.
Why it matters: The rental-certificate program is intended to ensure basic property maintenance and safety standards for rental housing; failure to reach compliance targets could lead to larger enforcement needs or code compliance risks if not addressed.
Next steps: Rod Holloway will draft the external notice and coordinate reviews with the village solicitor and Police Chief before any letters are issued; council asked staff to return with any substantive legal or process changes before June 2025 if needed.
