Summary
- Many residents who came to the July 22 Cleveland City Council Ward 11 Community Meeting expressed concern about vacant and nuisance properties and are interested in the further use of the city’s Problem Properties Roundtable.
- Although the city might not contract with Flock Safety after the recently approved six-month extension expires, the City of Cleveland is open to similar contracts for automated license plate readers
- City employees reviewed Cleveland’s Rental Registration program.
Follow-up questions
- How do the residents of Cleveland feel about another contractor potentially replacing Flock Safety, and what other contractors are City Council considering?
The Ward 11 community gathers at Spotlight Cleveland
The meeting started around 6:10 p.m. in the side yard of Spotlight Cleveland, a bar at 8701 Madison Ave. Picnic tables and chairs were set up around a central table that held pamphlets and a microphone. Coffee was served near the parking lot. Approximately 30 community members were in attendance along with the following speakers: Administrative Manager for the Cleveland Department of Building and Housing Toni Allen, Project Coordinator for Building and Housing TaJuana Harris, Field Representative Yariel Camacho from U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown’s office, Assistant Professor Elias Nader from Kent State University, and Ward 11 Council Member Nikki Hudson.
Hudson began the meeting by introducing the owner of Spotlight Cleveland, Corinne Henehan, who described the opening of Spotlight about three years ago and the type of events that are held there.
Cleveland’s Ward 11 includes parts of the rookside-Old Brooklyn, Cudell, Detroit-Shoreway, Edgewater, and West Boulevard neighborhoods.
How the Cleveland Rental Registration program works
TaJuana Harris, project coordinator for the Department of Building and Housing, spoke about the Rental Registration program:
- Rental properties in Cleveland must be registered for a fee of $70 per unit.
- Properties with four units or more must have an HVAC certification.
- A local agent in charge is needed for properties whose owners are outside of the area. The local agent must be present in Cuyahoga, Summit, Lake, Portage, Medina, Lorain or Geauga County.
- Properties built before 1978 must be lead-safe certified.
- If the owner pays a utility bill, the documentation must also be provided to the city.
Toni Allen, administrative manager for the Department of Building and Housing, added that if you do not have all of your documents, you can still register and pay the $70 per unit fee and come back with your documents on a later date. However, you will not receive a certificate approving rental occupancy until you meet all of the requirements of the Rental Registration program.
Officials and residents talk ‘problem properties’
Allen answered questions from community members:
- A community member asked about what occurs after a property has received multiple nuisance property calls and if a property can still be rented out after several calls. Allen said it depends on what the citation is and if the unit is deemed unsafe. If the inspector deems the unit unsafe, a vacate order will be issued to the tenants.
- The community member clarified his question by saying he was referring to the behavior of the tenants rather than the safety of the building. Council Member Nikki Hudson answered his question, saying she thinks the resident was talking about a new nuisance law. She said that if a property receives five nuisance activity calls within a year, the owner will be issued a warning letter. If the nuisance activities continue, the building owner will be fined.
Hudson spoke about the Residents First initiative and the Problem Properties Roundtable. She spoke positively about the program and gave examples of current cases:
- She gave an example of a property that had several calls for service. A nuisance letter was issued to the owners; they did not respond. Fines are still occurring. The owner of the property does not reside within the country.
- She gave another example of a property on 9212 Madison Ave. that was owned by 15 separate Turkish owners. She said that the building had pristine billboards on the side, but the building’s windows were boarded up. The building was condemned, and the revenue from the billboards stopped. She said that the owners consolidated into one entity and that the city is working with them to find a buyer who could rehabilitate the building.
- She then said that the city has had difficulties dealing with property owners who do not reside locally.
A community member brought up a property within their neighborhood. The community member said that the property was a nuisance and that the problems have been going on for a while. Allen asked the community member if they had called it into 311. They said that they have and that there were 23 other calls about the property. Allen asked for the address and said that she would follow up on the property…