Some oppose ordinance to increase rental permit fees, inspections

Council authorized a land swap with the school board.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A controversial ordinance that would increase annual permit fees for apartments from $18 to $96 and provide for regular health inspections of apartments was introduced in city council Wednesday evening.
Mohan Jain, owner of Deer Run Town Homes apartments on Commerce Avenue, told council the increase is "unjustifiable" and far exceeds the inspection fees he's familiar with in other communities, which charge $25 or less.
Having inspections more frequently than once a year would be an imposition on landlords and tenants, said Jain, one of four people who spoke against the fee increase.
Councilman Robert Holmes III, D-4th, said the increase is needed to pay for the hiring of additional personnel the health department would need to inspect the apartments. The ordinance pertains to dwellings that are not owner-occupied.
Holmes, one of four sponsors of the ordinance, said regular inspections are needed because tenants are sometimes afraid to complain about problems affecting their apartments.
Holmes said, however, the proposed $96 fee may be too high, and he's willing to compromise. He also said his initial proposal for two inspections a year may be overkill but added, "We need to do these inspections at least once a year."
Council's health and welfare committee will meet to discuss the ordinance at 4 p.m. March 2.
Land-swap deal
Council also passed an ordinance empowering the mayor to enter into a land-swap agreement with the school board that would clear the way for construction of the new Francis Willard School on the southeast side and add green space adjacent to Packard Park on the northwest side.
Under the arrangement, the city is to provide the school board with the 6.61-acre Wallace-Lynn Park off Willard Avenue, Southeast, by April 21 to complete the 14 1/2-acre site for a new kindergarten-through-eighth-grade building.
In exchange for that, the school board is to provide the 5.66-acre Turner Middle School site to the city as park land in mid-2007 once the state pays to demolish the Turner building.
In other business, council:
* Passed an ordinance to apply for a $260,000 federal Transportation Enhancement Activity grant to install new brick-patterned stamped concrete sidewalks and crosswalks along Market Street from Main Avenue to Chestnut Street.
* Introduced an ordinance to rezone 8.9 vacant acres on the southwest corner of Palmyra Road and Orleans Street Southwest, from Residential A to Residential B to permit construction of multifamily, cottage-style senior apartments. Earlier this month, council passed a resolution supporting a tax credit application by Pirhl LLC of Warrensville Heights for construction of the $8 million complex, which would consist of up to 60 apartments for low-income people, age 55 and older. The tax credit application would go before the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.