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Nuisance issues

New community committee tackles trouble spots

JANELLE PATTERSON The Marietta Times City Code Enforcement Official Wayne Rinehart staples a structural notice on outside walls of 410 Fearing St. in Marietta because of the risk to public health the home poses due to trash in the yard and because the building, destroyed by fire within the past year, has not been secured by the property owner.

Though grass is not yet at the forefront of Marietta nuisance complaints this year, trash, unsecured homes taken by fire, tires, junk cars and decaying furniture on lawns still act as eyesores and health risks on properties across the city.

Currently more than 50 homes are consistently reported for nuisance and health and safety issues throughout the city.

“I think especially with weather getting warmer, people are spending more time walking around outside, noticing and reporting nuisance and health complaints,” Wayne Rinehart, the city’s code enforcement official, explained Friday. “And we especially need to be aware of and secure abandoned tires, which with spring coming on become a mosquito haven.”

Rinehart met with one member of the ad hoc property maintenance code committee appointed by Marietta City Council Friday in preparation for the committee’s rescheduled meeting next Friday.

The committee was formed at the end of last year by council to serve in an advisory role to council’s Planning, Zoning and Annexation Committee. Their meeting next week will be the group’s first.

“As we in committee look at what the International Property Maintenance Code suggests we have to look at what parts can really apply to Marietta,” said Stanley Lang, who sits on the ad hoc committee. “There need to be specifics laid out and tailored to fit the city. And clear definitions of what blight and nuisance are need to be made.”

Bret Allphin, who also sits on the committee, said he hopes to bring his background in regional planning and development to the table in discussions concerning property maintenance code.

“In my capacity at Buckeye Hills-Hocking Valley Regional Development District I can bring the perspective of how changes could affect different kinds of property owners,” he explained. “I’m hoping that I can help us come to a place where we have clear and concise definitions for what is and is not a nuisance property–especially because citizens operate with different perspectives on what is nuisance.”

Allphin said he has already been handed other citizens’ research on how communities outside of Marietta encourage compliance with property maintenance codes.

“And I appreciate the people that have come to me with that. But every community is different and as a committee we can take an individualized look rather than just copy and paste what other towns are doing,” he said.

The committee’s chairman, Jon Grimm, said that a business owner in the area but also a prior councilman, he hopes to provide balanced advice to council through the committee.

“Some of the city’s financial issues stem from a lack of tax base and we’re competing with other communities not only for that business tax base but also for their employees to live here,” said Grimm.

He said a balance between an aesthetically appealing city and one which is affordable to live and do business in will be his primary focus while working on the committee this year.

“A rising tide lifts all boats,” he said. “We want to accomplish having a nice and safe community but without onerous regulations that make the investment not worth it.”

Bob Forbes, a homeowner and landlord of four homes in Marietta, said he hopes the committee can also help the city encourage private enterprise within residential areas of town.

“If we encourage construction and renovation, rather than just tearing down run-down properties, then investment in town grows,” he said. “People need a place to live and we need to keep that in mind.”

John Lehman also sits on the committee but could not be reached Friday for comment.

The ad hoc committee will meet Friday at noon at the Galley to further discuss its goals and mission and consider three proposed additions and amendments to current city legislation on grass, trash and a possible rental property registry.

Rinehart also said that the city’s Building Enforcement Board, which discusses primarily commercial and business properties, will next meet Monday at 11 a.m. on the third floor of 304 Putnam St., Marietta, to discuss 162 Front St., the former Wine Shop, which has been closed for several years and is decaying from the back of the building.

What’s next

¯ Marietta Building Enforcement Board, which discusses primarily commercial and business properties, will next meet Monday at 11 a.m. on the third floor of 304 Putnam St., Marietta.

¯ Marietta City Council’s Ad Hoc Property Maintenance Code Committee will meet at noon at The Galley on Second Street Friday.

Source: Times research.

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