Coshocton City Council cracking down on vacant properties; 35 sites identified so far
COSHOCTON − Coshocton City Council and the city's administration are looking to have stricter enforcement of regulations regarding vacant properties in the city.
In 2018, council passed legislation similar to what other municipalities have regarding owners of vacant properties needing to register with the city and paying fees for empty buildings that sit too long with renovations not being done or at least a plan on file with the city. Some refining has been done to the ordinance since it was passed, such as in 2019 regarding landscaping of vacant properties.
Bob Beaumont, assistant safety service director, is working on a spreadsheet of addresses and owners of vacant properties he hopes to have finalized and presented to council in May. City Council will meet in regular session on May 13 and 20. The second meeting of the month moved up a week because of Memorial Day.
Beaumont and Property Code Inspector Mark Sharrock have identified 35 vacant properties so far that would fall under the vacant property legislation. Of those, six are commercial and the rest are residential.
Eight properties are current with registration with two more expiring at the end of May. Two previously registered have expired and three properties have new owners since last registered. Five properties are on a demolition list by the Coshocton Land Bank. Beaumont will be sending letters to property owners who need to register.
Beaumont said they've been using information to identify properties from the Coshocton Land Bank, the city water department and the Coshocton County auditor's and treasurer's offices. Mayor Mark Mills said they would also be working with American Electric Power relating to properties with electric hookups.
Additionally, Beaumont and Sharrock have checked with Coshocton County Auditor Sherry Kirkpatrick on tax assessments for 2023 that were paid for 2024. This mostly includes the city doing mowing and weeding and clean up of properties when needed, not done by property owners.
Beaumont said a little more than $25,000 was assessed in 2023 with about $17,000 being paid so far. He said labor estimates were at $12,000.
"We don't want to be in this business of being property maintenance people, but we kind of have to. Hopefully it sends out a message of take care of your properties yourself. If you don't, we will," Beaumont said. "Obviously, with those numbers, it gets kind of costly. It's positive revenues, but not the business we want to be in."
Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @llhayhurst.
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Coshocton City Council plans to crack down on vacant properties
