Johnson County considers property ordinance

Property owners in rural Johnson County may be getting some new rules on what they can and cannot do with their land.

The county's Board of Supervisors said Wednesday it wants to explore the merits of a property maintenance ordinance, which would subject property owners to certain standards. For example, the county could make someone remove an abandoned car from a yard or force a landlord to make repairs, the same as many cities do.

It's not clear if there is support on the board for the measure. Board members said they want more time to consider it, and they plan to discuss it again at a meeting next month.

If there's interest in moving forward from there, staff would start drawing up an ordinance.

The county currently has some oversight of landowners. For example, if there is an imminent health issue, the county's public health department can step in.

But its power is limited. This has been most evident with Regency Mobile Home Park just south of Iowa City, where residents in recent years have complained of abandoned trailers, piles of junk, poor water, weeds and indifferent ownership.

Although county officials denounced the conditions, they said the county's lack of a housing code left them powerless to demand the park owner clean up.

The supervisors, however, have so far resisted enacting a new code, saying the county doesn't have major problems with other rental properties.

What form the ordinance could take is still unknown. It could cover all residential property, or just rentals. It would not include agricultural land, officials said. Possible violations would be handled on a complaint basis.

Supervisor Janelle Rettig said the “devil is in the details.” One person's weeds may be another person's natural area, she said.

“While it may work in town, where people are five feet from each other, it's a little awkward” in rural areas, she said.

Linn County has a property maintenance ordinance for unincorporated areas. They occasionally use it for something like junk vehicles or dilapidated buildings but primarily focus on basic safety issues like electrical or plumbing systems in homes, said Heidi Peck, environmental health services branch manager with the county's public health department.