Liberty seeks home rule

The home rule issue will be on the ballot in November.

By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

LIBERTY — Township officials hope to increase their ability to address property maintenance and other issues by adding home rule to the police and zoning departments’ arsenal.

Trustees are putting home rule legislation before voters with the hope that township residents will embrace the issue at the ballot.

They “are putting this on the ballot in November, and if it passes it will take effect in January of the next year,” said Jim Rodway, zoning inspector. Township legislative power is limited under state law, but home rule allows the township to pass ordinances similar to what cities can do, primarily to address nuisances.

Townships with more than 15,000 residents can adopt home rule legislation without going before voters. Townships with less than 5,000 residents are not permitted to enact home rule legislation at all. Those townships, such as Liberty, with between 5,000 and 15,000 residents must take the issue before voters.

The benefits

Rodway said adopting the legislation would be extremely beneficial to zoning officials. Those in violation of zoning laws now, he said, are cited into court — where it often takes months to rectify issues. But with home rule, the township can impose its own ordinances and fine schedule.

“With the adoption of this we could have property maintenance laws that are enforceable with fines. It would definitely give us more teeth in dealing with these issues than we have right now,” he said.

Police Chief Anthony Slifka said the home rule legislation would strengthen police noise regulations and rules on things such as dogs running at large. The legislation could also cover speeding, junk vehicles and transient vendors.

The township, Rodway said, would have the power to impose fines of up to $1,000 for violating ordinances adopted under home rule. He said those fines would likely be handled on a graduated scale with smaller fines issued first, then larger fines if the violation is not addressed.

Hiring a law director

Should voters choose to accept home rule, the township would have to hire a law director. Rodway said the township has considered hiring Atty. Mark Finamore to serve as part-time law director one day a week.

Rodway said any money spent hiring a law director would likely be offset by fines collected under home rule regulations. He said the legislation is a win-win situation for the township with revenue from fines, and ordinances that force owners to maintain their property.

“There really are not a lot of negatives from what I can see. We think it’s a great tool to help clean up the blight of a community,” he said.

Rodway said officials plan to hold informational meetings for the public before the November election. He is putting together a presentation that will explain the legislation to voters.

“This is a start to getting some things cleaned up,” he said. “We are hoping that the people see the benefit in it.”

jgoodwin@vindy.com