Johnson County officials will refocus property maintenance code

After encountering the wrath of hundreds of farmers last month, Johnson County officials will refocus a proposed property maintenance code on rental and abandoned properties.

A majority of the supervisors said at a work session Tuesday that they wanted to exempt owner-occupied homes and farm buildings from the code. They directed staff to revise the proposal to apply to rental properties and abandoned homes.

The goal was to put the aim back on mobile homes. The troubled Regency Mobile Home Park, which has been the source of complaints for years, is what got the county talking about a property maintenance code last spring.

“We have some fairly significant blighted rural mobile home courts,” supervisor Terrence Neuzil said.

But while the supervisors' direction would give the county the ability to address abandoned mobile homes, it may not do much to resolve problems in owner-occupied mobile homes. Susan Nehring, an assistant county attorney, said she did not believe a rental-only code could be enforced on owner-occupied mobile homes paying rent for a spot in a park.

Supervisors Rod Sullivan and Janelle Rettig opposed exempting owner-occupied homes. Rettig proposed applying a tougher standard to rental property, but the board majority was not interested.

“I think we should regulate all housing stock, period,” she said.

The county ran afoul of farmers with what was initially proposed in the property maintenance code. At a public hearing in December, hundreds of rural residents showed up to voice concerns about inspections, the possibility of having to pay for repairs they believe unnecessary and the government having say over what they do with their property.

State law does not allow for a code to apply only to a mobile home park.

In addition to exempting owner-occupied homes, the majority of the board said they also did not want the county to regulate farm buildings like barns. Rental homes on farms would be covered, though.

Inspections would occur only on a complaint basis.

County staff will draw up a draft for consideration at an undetermined future meeting. The supervisors could still change their minds on individual points in the proposal.

The changes discussed Tuesday were substantial enough that the county probably is now looking at a housing or rental code and not a property maintenance code, Nehring said.

Linn County has a property maintenance ordinance for unincorporated areas that does not exempt agricultural property.