(Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection - Public Meeting- Council Meeting)

PARKERSBURG — Members of Parkersburg City Council are considering an ordinance requiring the registration and inspection of residential rental units.

“We want to make sure all rental housing is maintained in safe and sanitary conditions,” Development Director Ryan Barber said.

Council is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday as the Committee of the Whole to discuss the ordinance, which would require registration and inspection of residential rental units. The committee can forward the ordinance to the full council, which would have to approve it on two readings before it could go into effect.

Parkersburg is one of the only major cities in West Virginia that doesn’t do residential rental inspections, Code Enforcement Director Andy Nestor said.

“The code office gets inundated with phone calls from renters wanting the code office to enforce repairs,” he said.

The issue isn’t always something code can address, Nestor said. They enforce the International Property Maintenance Code, which includes life safety requirements like smoke alarms, heat sources and hot and running water. Those issues would be covered under the new ordinance.

In addition to protecting residents, the ordinance would give landlords whose property, after inspection, successfully meets these life safety and other basic requirements a certificate of occupancy showing they are in compliance, Nestor said.

“We’re going to work with the owners,” he said. “That one little piece of paper solves a lot, a lot, of he-said, she-said stuff.”

The inspection would be good for two years, so properties would be reinspected within the ensuing 24 months.

Under the proposed ordinance, 120 days after the article’s effective date, landlords could not lease, rent or advertise to lease or rent any unit in the city without a valid residential rental unit license. The cost of the license is $25 per unit, per year, not to exceed $500 per calendar year for any owner or entity.

Landlords must apply to the city Finance Department for the license within 120 days of the article taking effect and within 30 days of a unit being acquired or made available to rent. Requests can be denied if the landlord has delinquent taxes with the city or unpaid fees and fines related to that specific unit.

There would be no fee for the initial inspection or regular reinspections. If a situation requires repairs, another inspection would be needed. Charges would apply to repeated reinspections, with the third costing $50 and $100 after that. Missing a scheduled inspection without providing 24 hours notice will result in an additional $50 fee.

Inspections could also be performed in response to a complaint or observation of a violation of applicable city, state or county law related to building, fire, health, safety and zoning.

If a rental unit is determined to be in violation, the inspector is to provide written notice and “a reasonable period” in which the violation must be corrected. Failure to do so can result in revocation. Revocation of a license can be appealed to the city’s Building Codes Appeals Board.

Development of the ordinance began over a year ago, Barber said, in consultation with multiple city departments and outside agencies, including the Wood County Assessor’s Office and the Parkersburg Housing Authority, Barber said. It was approved by the Municipal Planning Commission in August.

Barber said the ordinance is intended as another means to address the need for safe, affordable housing in Parkersburg.

“Seventy percent of the homes in Parkersburg are over 55 years old,” he said. “Forty percent of residential units are renter-occupied.”

Enforcement of the ordinance would be up to the code department, Barber said.

“There might be a need for a residential inspector” to be hired, Nestor said. “This is a full-time job.”

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com