ADRIAN — The number of Adrian residents and real estate agents who strongly voiced their opposition to Adrian’s point of sale housing inspection ordinance, are once again expressing their displeasure with the ordinance through a repeal process, which officially kicked off last week.
A grassroots and task force-led effort named Adrian Community for the Repeal of the Point of Sale Ordinance, which has a Facebook page named Repeal Adrian Point of Sale Ordinance, launched its public campaign that seeks to repeal the ordinance that was narrowly approved by the Adrian City Commission in early June.
The campaign kickoff met Tuesday, July 9, in the community room of the Adrian District Library in downtown Adrian. Close to 50 people attended the meeting, with a handful of attendees vocally supporting the repeal efforts.
Among those in attendance were two Adrian City Commissioners in Bob Behnke, who was one of the three city commission members to cast a “No” vote at the June 3 meeting for the point of sale ordinance, and Doug Miller, who was one the four commissioners to vote “yes” and in favor of enacting the ordinance.
Voting against the ordinance's passage along with Behnke were Mayor Angie Sword Heath and commissioner Mary Roberts.
Voting in favor of the ordinance along with Miller were commissioners Kelly Castleberry, Gordon Gauss and Matt Schwartz.
With the ordinance being approved by the commission, there will be a month's long process — 180 days from the day of adoption — for city officials and administration to develop the logistics of the ordinance before it officially goes on the books.
That also gives time for efforts like the repeal campaign to begin its process of seeking petition circulators and petition signatures.
“We don’t have to just accept this and move on,” said Kasey White, a real estate consultant and one of the founding members of Adrian Community for the Repeal of the Point of Sale Ordinance.
White, who was among the many people to publicly speak out against the ordinance as it was being considered by the city commission, said it will have a direct impact on those homeowners/sellers who have less capability to perform maintenance or repair work on their house, including those who can’t afford to make repairs and those who are physically unable to complete the repairs themselves.
Adrian’s point of sale inspection ordinance has been described as “another tool in its toolbox” for combatting residential blight throughout the city, by its supporters. Those who are in opposition of the ordinance, call it a new financial burden for citizens, an example of government overreach that will “erode the freedom of buyers and sellers to negotiate,” and a measure that is “not right for our town; a hurdle that will disproportionally impact the least well-off in our city.”
The proposal aims to require exterior-only inspections of owner-occupied residential properties in the city before they can be sold. An undetermined fee for this inspection, that the city will ultimately set over the next couple of months, will need to be paid as part of the inspection process.
This requirement, as explained by Adrian City Administrator, Greg Elliott, will ensure the exterior of a residence listed for sale either complies with Adrian’s property maintenance code or, if it does not, a plan will be put in place to ensure the standards of the maintenance code will be met.
Residences must pass the inspection to be sold. Examples of peeling paint or siding in disrepair would ultimately fail the inspection. Sellers can set aside money for the buyer to perform the repairs. Other examples include broken porch rails, a deteriorating roof and other unmaintained parts of the house.
How long will the repeal/petition process take?
A rough timeline of events was detailed by members of the repeal committee at last week’s meeting.
Later this month, organizers are hoping to start collecting petition signatures. Signatures can only be collected from registered voters in Adrian, and there is a 21-day timeframe for how long signatures can be collected starting from the first signature.
Committee members said they plan to collect signatures during the week of the Lenawee County Fair and during the August First Fridays events in Adrian for Aug. 2. Don’t be surprised if you happen to see representatives of Adrian Community for the Repeal of the Point of Sale Ordinance walking in the annual Lenawee County Fair parade.
By mid-August, the Adrian city clerk will validate the petition signatures during a canvassing period that can last up to 15 days. Another lengthy process can take up to 30 days in early-to-mid-September when the city commission debates the results of the petition. In early October, the commission can either repeal the ordinance itself based upon the stance of the petitioners or it can opt to submit the repeal efforts to the ballot for all city voters to consider. If an election is selected, Adrian Community for the Repeal of the Point of Sale Ordinance is eyeing a Nov. 5 general election ballot item.
Adrian has six precincts/wards that altogether total 14,937 voters, according to information provided by Adrian Community for the Repeal of the Point of Sale Ordinance. For the petition process to be considered by the city clerk and the city commission, 10% of valid signatures in the city must be collected — that working out to be 1,494 signatures.
Each signer of the petition must include their signature, name, address, zip code and date of signing.
The committee is hoping to gain enough support from the public that when the number of signed petitions are presented to the city commission, local officials will “hear what the people are saying and don’t put it to a vote,” Carrie Smith, agency manager for Prestige Title Insurance in Adrian, said.
Subscribe Now:For all the latest local developments, breaking news, and high school and college sports content.
“As the commission reevaluates its position on it, they could just repeal it,” she said. “...Our hope is the signatures speak for themselves and the commission listens.”
Smith said she is coming out of last week’s repeal/petition kickoff meeting with positive feelings moving forward.
“This felt like a success, and it felt like a step in the right direction,” she said.
A petitioner/canvasser informational meeting has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, July 18, at the Adrian District Library, for those specifically who are willing to go door-to-door or hold petition signing events.
— Contact reporter Brad Heineman at bheineman@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: twitter.com/LenaweeHeineman.
Most Popular
Comments / 0